Faithful Stewardship for the Universal Church

Twelve Wicker Baskets

In this episode, Ian Rangel describes the history, mission, and impact of The Papal Foundation, the only charitable organization in the United States exclusively dedicated to fulfilling the requests of the Holy Father for the needs of the Church. The foundation aims at providing the resources to address capital, humanitarian and vocational needs throughout the developing world or, as Ian puts it, to serve “the underdogs of the Church.”

Begun in 1988 during the pontificate of St. John Paul II, the foundation, a separate 501(c)(3) organization, has provided over $200 million in response to requests for assistance from across the globe. A donor becomes a Steward of Saint Peter with a minimum contribution of $1 million in support of the foundation’s mission. Stewards of Saint Peter and their families are invited to make an annual pilgrimage to Rome, which includes an audience with the Holy Father, and are invited to support his Petrine ministry through prayer. Ian describes the support the foundation has given to the Center for Working Families in Quito, Ecuador to assist families in abject poverty learn skills and trades to provide them a better life. He also explains how the foundation’s aid to the Church in Poland helped them provide shelter and essentials for Ukrainian refugees. The foundation’s St. John Paul II scholarship fund provides priests, religious men and women, seminarians, and men and women in formation for religious life from the developing world to receive their education and formation at one of the fifteen pontifical universities in Rome.

Ian reflects, ”To walk in partnership and journey with our Stewards of Saint Peter, who in many ways have seen their own neighborhoods of the Church grow as they are supporting the work in a very generous way at levels that are just phenomenal, is just a humbling experience.”
Guest: Ian Rangel
Title: Vice President of Steward Development, The Papal Foundation

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