The group will meet with Pope Francis on Friday to share with him the chosen projects and renew its commitment to supporting his desired charitable efforts.
“The foundation really looks for projects to fund in developing countries so that we can reach the most vulnerable and the poorest,” Dave Savage, the foundation’s executive director, told CNA in Rome.
Eustace Mita (left), president of the board of trustees of the Papal Foundation, and David Savage (right), executive director of the Papal Foundation. Credit: The Papal Foundation
The grants and scholarships support a variety of efforts, including many construction and renovation projects for schools, churches, seminaries, hospitals, pastoral centers, and orphanages in the developing world.
The president of the charity’s board of trustees, Eustace Mita, told CNA “this is the pope’s only pocket, if you will, that he can use as a resource for all these requests that he gets worldwide.”
On Tuesday, members of the foundation were able to visit one of the grant recipients: the Casa Scalabrini.
Stewards of the Papal Foundation meet Brother Gioacchino Campese, CS (far left), general director of Casa Scalabrini in Rome, on April 18, 2023. Credit: The Papal Foundation
The Casa Scalabrini, which has four centers across Italy, including in Rome, houses immigrants and refugees while helping them transition into integration in the country.
Another grant recipient is A Family of Families, an organization in Quito, Ecuador, that provides education, job training, food programs, and health care to about 400 struggling families.
EWTN News created a half-hour documentary about the work of A Family of Families that will be available to watch on the EWTN YouTube page later this week and will air on the “Vaticano” program starting the end of May.