Religious Information Bureau (RIB)
Dino Durando, RIB Chairman
Chris Teel, RIB Secretary / Treasurer
Welcome to the Religious Information Bureau RIB State Program! Our hope is that our program will assist Councils in sharing our Catholic faith with our neighbors, whether church families or not.
Religious Information Bureau in the Past
The Religious Information Bureau, RIB, was developed in the 1940s by the Missouri State Council to help non-Catholics learn about the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church. This was especially important in a time in which anti-Catholic bias was present in both religious and secular media. The Missouri State Council partnered with the Vincentian Priests and Brothers in Perryville, who started the Catholic Home Study Service that provided the free courses. Many of the materials were developed by the late Fr. Oscar Lukefahr, CM, a former State Chaplain for Missouri. Non-Catholics might take the home study courses available through the Catholic Home Study in order to learn about Catholicism prior to joining the church. The Missouri State Program was so successful that the Supreme Office developed the Catholic Information Service in 1953. That program is still very active today and can be a great resource for all the materials you can use to evangelize today. While the Vincentian partnership was immensely fruitful, and with the changing times, the Vincentians ended our partnership in November 2018 to invest more energy in preaching parish missions.
Religious Information Bureau Today
At the 118th Missouri State Convention in 2019, a new Religious Information Bureau program was announced. The new program consists of grants provided to each of our four Diocese’s to enhance their evangelistic efforts. Each Diocese provided their programs to the Columbian Charities grant committee for acceptance and funding. The new opportunities for the Dioceses to bring enhanced faith programs to their parishioners has been overwhelmingly well received. These programs will reach the four corners of Missouri with 21st century online technology at the forefront. Each of the Diocesan programs have given the Missouri Knights of Columbus acknowledgement of sponsorship and financial assistance. We are fortunate to currently have the Director of the Office of the Domestic Church and Discipleship, Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Dino Durando, helping guide this program. See below for a synopsis of each Diocesan Program.
Our Goal – $285,000
With the new program aligned to the four Dioceses in our State, we have had great financial support the first year that the program changed. We need everyone’s help even more than ever so we don’t let our Church down. We are continuing to ask each Council to assign a quota of $7.50 per member. Each member of the Ladies Auxiliary is asked to give $3.75 per member. Fourth Degree Assemblies are asked to support this program with what they can. With 100% participation from the roughly 43,000 Knights in Missouri, we could raise $322,500, not to mention the additional from all of the Ladies Auxiliaries as well. Regular appeal letters will still be mailed so any Knights family that wants to give more than its quota of $7.50 can generously contribute.
Below is a synopsis of our Diocesan program. You can see that your donations to RIB are being used effectively. Remember, that without these additional funds, your Churches in Missouri would not be able to provide these valuable programs!
St. Louis
- Virtual Community for Faith Formation (University of Dayton – VLCFF and Notre Dame – STEP) Adults in 178 parishes may take online courses, allowing for certificates in Catechesis, adult formation leadership, social justice, foundations for leadership in ministry, youth ministry, and special needs.
- Tuition Reimbursement for Virtual Religious Certification Courses
- Catechesis of the Shepard (CGS) Training
- Theology of the Body Training
