WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Catholic church in the U.S. and one of the 10 largest in the world, has announced student Kate Dudek and St. Benedict at Auburndale High School, as a 2016 Charity and Social Service Honoree.
Dudek and St. Benedict are one of five honorees from across the country to be recognized for outstanding works of charity and social service. She and her school have distinguished themselves in their work with soup kitchens, food banks, blood drives, coat collections, fundraisers for a children’s hospital and a local veteran’s program, assisting with Special Olympics and participating in the annual March for Life.
Dudek represented her school on a trip to Washington, D.C., March 11-13. On March 12, during a special Mass celebrated in the Basilica’s Great Upper Church, she was presented with the Charity & Social Service Honors Medal by Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, Arch-bishop of Washington and Chairman of the National Shrine’s Board of Trustees.
Established by the Basilica in 2009, the Charity & Social Service Honors Program endeavors to encourage and honor the nation’s youth in their works of corporal and spiritual mercy.
The biennial program invites each diocese from across the United States to submit a video nomination of a student or student group engaged in charity and social service. From these nationwide nominations, five honorees are selected. The 2016 honors program was dedicated to the papacy of Pope Francis in celebration of his pastoral mission and his visit to the Basilica on Sept. 23, 2015.
The Basilica is known as the preeminent Marian shrine and patronal church of the United States. Open 365 days a year, the Basilica welcomes nearly one million visitors annually. In addition to welcoming Pope Francis in 2015, the Basilica welcomed Pope Benedict XVI in 2008, Saint Pope John Paul II in 1979 and soon-to-be canonized Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta on numerous occasions.
For more information on the Basilica, visit nationalshrine.com.
