Speaking earlier this month to members of Italian confraternities dedicated to helping the poor, the sick and the suffering, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged them to multiply their initiatives and activities.

Despite an increase in economic well-being in Italy, he said, “pockets of poverty have not altogether disappeared, and therefore today, as in the past, there is much to do in the field of solidarity.”

The pope’s words could also be applied to the United States and to the work of diocesan Catholic Charities. A report issued last week by Catholic Charities USA showed that while some sectors of the U.S. economy are doing well, there are many — far too many — who are knocking at the doors of Catholic Charities agencies across the country seeking help.

This report, entitled “Poverty in America: Beyond the Numbers,” showed that U.S. Catholic Charities agencies served 7.9 million clients in 2006. This included 4.1 million people who were living below the poverty line ($20,000 for a family of four). Total expenditures came to $3.5 billion.

Of all those served by Catholic Charities, more than 45 percent were either under age 18 or over 65.

Some trends reported indicated that needs are increasing. For example, between 2002 and 2006 the numbers of people receiving food from Catholic Charities — through soup kitchens, food banks and pantries or home-delivered meals — increased by 2.7 million, or nearly 60 percent. Requests for temporary shelters increased 24 percent over the past five years.

“Poverty in America is a moral and social crisis,” the report said. “While certain choices and behaviors can lead individuals into poverty, far more often the greater fault lives with the social and economic structures that shape the opportunities for the poor. Catholic social teaching tells us that every human being is worthy of dignity and respect, and that if any are in need, then we share in the responsibility to help.”

Two areas of the Catholic Charities USA report — increases in requests for the basic necessities of food and shelter — are particularly disturbing.

More than 6.3 million people were provided food services, which made up 51 percent of the total services provided by Catholic Charities agencies in 2006. Also, these agencies saw a 12 percent rise in the numbers of people served. And the agencies said they were unable to serve nearly 1,800 people requesting prepared food and about 91,000 asking for distributed food.

The report concluded: “The moral test of society is how it meets the needs of its most vulnerable members, including those unable to provide food for themselves and their families. It is unacceptable in a nation as bountiful as ours that anyone goes hungry.”

In the area of housing, Catholic Charities’ efforts included providing affordable housing, help in preventing foreclosures and outreach to the homeless through temporary and transitional housing.

The report noted that even before the recent mortgage industry setback, the nation’s affordable housing crisis displaced more than 3 million people each year into homelessness. In addition, “millions of others live on the brink of homelessness or in severely substandard homes as they struggle to meet” increases in housing and utility costs, the report said.

Besides food and housing, Catholic Charities agencies also offered health services (such as assistance with prescription drugs) and family educational and social support services. Nearly 1.1 million people received services to strengthen families, including counseling, mental health services and immigration services.

The holiday season is a time when many people reach out to the needy in a special way through contributions to agencies that serve the poor and by distributing food baskets through churches and other organizations. While these efforts are needed during the holidays, agencies that serve the poor face meeting these needs year-round.

As Father Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA, said of the new report, “This information from our agencies shows that every season should be a season of giving because the need is still there, and it is continuing to grow.”