November 13, 2024 - The Papal Foundation’s Mission Fund, established in 2008 to further the work of Saint Mother Teresa by funding humanitarian projects that serve the poor and needy in God’s name, has now granted more than $2 million in funds in 2024.
The Mission Fund Committee, comprised of Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Trustee Patricia Flatley ands committee chairman Trustee Jim Towey, recently approved six new grant requests from the Vatican, making it 17 total grants for humanitarian needs this year.
Two of the grants approved were for medical assistance and equipment:
- $200,000 to provide medical assistance to vulnerable families in Damascus, Syria to address the refugee and humanitarian crisis there
- $39,749 for medical equipment and an ambulance in Indonesia
Five grants were made in response to the crisis in Ukraine:
- $95,000 for medical equipment for St. Luke’s Clinic in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine
- $90,000 for the purchase of furnishing for the Pidliute Youth Center in Ivan-Frankivsk, Ukraine
- $85,000 for the renovation of a building for the Center for Spiritual and Psycho therapeutic Assistance in Lviv, Ukraine
- $53,000 for construction of a protective bunker at St. George Parish in Pokrovsk, Ukraine
- $25,000 for humanitarian needs in Zaporizhshia, Ukraine
Grants made to serve the poor in Africa include:
- $822,398 for the MC Fathers in Nairobi to build a muti-purpose facility on their current property that will provide a range of humanitarian assistance and other services, including quarters for MC Fathers and those in formation.
- $284,126 to build a women and children’s shelter run by the Missionaries of Charity in Kinshasha, Congo to accommodate 34 women and their children.
- $38,000 for the Missionaries of Charity in Port Sudan, Sudan
- $12,000 for the Missionaries of Charity El Obeid, Egypt
- $10,000 for the Missionaries of Charity in Sarh, Chad
- $10,000 for the Missionaries of Charity in N’Djamena, Chad
The committee also approved a $110,000 grant to support migrant and refugee resettlement and grant $90,000 to support anti-trafficking programs.