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Herald Malaysia
5 days ago
- Politics
- Herald Malaysia
Here are 50 notable remarks by Pope Leo XIV during his first 100 days
Pope Leo XIV has made numerous memorable remarks during the first 100 days of his pontificate (May 8 to Aug. 16). Below are some of the most notable. Aug 17, 2025 Pope Leo XIV smiles during his Wednesday general audience on Aug. 13, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media By Almudena Martínez-BordiúPope Leo XIV has made numerous memorable remarks during the first 100 days of his pontificate (May 8 to Aug. 16). Below are some of the most notable. The peace that comes from Christ 1. 'It is the peace of the risen Christ. A peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering. A peace that comes from God, the God who loves us all, unconditionally' (First greeting after being elected). 2. 'In a divided and troubled world, the Holy Spirit teaches us to walk together in unity' (Vigil of Pentecost). 3. 'Today more than ever, humanity cries out and calls for peace. This is a cry that requires responsibility and reason, and it must not be drowned out by the din of weapons or the rhetoric that incites conflict' (Angelus on the solemnity of Corpus Christi). The evangelizing mission 4. 'These are contexts where it is not easy to preach the Gospel and bear witness to its truth, where believers are mocked, opposed, despised, or at best tolerated and pitied. Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed. A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family, and so many other wounds that afflict our society' (Homily at Mass with cardinals). 5. 'Take courage! Without fear! Many times in the Gospel Jesus says: 'Do not be afraid.' We need to be courageous in the witness we give, with the world and above all with life: giving life, serving, sometimes with great sacrifices in order to live out this very mission' (Homily in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica). 6. 'Evangelization, dear brothers and sisters, is not our attempt to conquer the world but the infinite grace that radiates from lives transformed by the kingdom of God' (Vigil of Pentecost). 7. 'This dimension of our Christian life and mission is close to my heart and is reflected in the words of St. Augustine that I chose for my episcopal service and now for my papal ministry: 'In Illo uno unum.' Christ is our savior and in him we are one, a family of God, beyond the rich variety of our languages, cultures, and experiences' (Address to the Pontifical Mission Societies).God's merciful love8. 'God loves us, God loves all, and evil will not prevail. We are all in God's hands. Therefore, without fear, united, holding hands with God and with each other, let us move forward' (First greeting after being elected). 9. 'For if we remain in his love, he comes to dwell in us and our life will become a temple of God. His love enlightens us, influences the way we think and act, spreads outwards to others and embraces every situation in our lives' (Regina Caeli, May 25). 10. 'God's joy is not loud, but it truly changes history and brings us closer to one another' (Mass for priestly ordinations). 11. 'The risen Jesus shows us his wounds and, although they are a sign of humanity's rejection, he forgives us and sends us on our way' (Mass for priestly ordinations). 12. 'The Father does not love us any less than he loves his only-begotten Son. In other words, with an infinite love. God does not love less, because he loves first, from the very beginning!' (Mass for the Jubilee of Families). 13. 'To believe in him and to be his disciples means allowing ourselves to be changed and to take on his same feelings. It means learning to have a heart that is moved, eyes that see and do not look away, hands that help others and soothe their wounds, shoulders that bear the burden of those in need' (Mass at Castel Gandolfo). 14. 'Brothers and sisters, today we need this 'revolution of love'' (Mass at Castel Gandolfo). 15. 'God's love is so great that Jesus does not keep even his mother for himself, giving Mary to us as our mother, in the hour of the cross' (Homily at Castel Gandolfo with the Italian Carabinieri). 16. 'If we deny the love that has generated us, if by betraying we become unfaithful to ourselves, then we truly lose the meaning of our coming into the world, and we exclude ourselves from salvation. And yet, precisely there, at the darkest point, the light is not extinguished. On the contrary, it starts to shine. Because if we recognize our limit, if we let ourselves be touched by the pain of Christ, then we can finally be born again' (Catechesis on betrayal). 17. 'Faith does not spare us from the possibility of sin, but it always offers us a way out of it: that of mercy' (Catechesis on betrayal). 18. 'Jesus is not scandalized by our fragility. He knows well that no friendship is immune from the risk of betrayal. But Jesus continues to trust. He continues to sit at the table with his followers. He does not give up breaking bread, even for those who will betray him. This is the silent power of God: He never abandons the table of love, even when he knows he will be left alone' (Catechesis on betrayal). The family 19. 'One of the most wonderful expressions of the love of God is the love that is poured out by mothers, especially to their children and grandchildren' (Homily in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica). 20. 'And you, dear children, show gratitude to your parents: Saying 'thank you' each day for the gift of life and for all that comes with it is the first way to honor your father and your mother' (Mass for the Jubilee of Families). 21. 'In the family, faith is handed on together with life, generation after generation. It is shared like food at the family table and like the love in our hearts. In this way, families become privileged places in which to encounter Jesus, who loves us and desires our good, always' (Mass for the Jubilee of Families). 22. 'Our affection for our loved ones — for the wife or husband with whom we have spent so much of our lives, for our children, for our grandchildren who brighten our days — does not fade when our strength wanes. Indeed, their own affection often revives our energy and brings us hope and comfort' (Message for the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly). 23. 'It is the responsibility of government leaders to work to build harmonious and peaceful civil societies. This can be achieved above all by investing in the family, founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman' (Audience with the diplomatic corps). The grace of the Holy Spirit 24. 'The Holy Spirit comes to challenge us, to make us confront the possibility that our lives are shriveling up, trapped in the vortex of individualism' (Mass on the solemnity of Pentecost). 25. 'The Spirit of God allows us to find a new way of approaching and experiencing life. He puts us in touch with our inmost self, beneath all the masks we wear. He leads us to an encounter with the Lord by teaching us to experience the joy that is his gift' (Mass on the solemnity of Pentecost). Christ the Eucharist and the Church 26. 'All the fruitfulness of the Church and of the Holy See depends on the cross of Christ. Otherwise, it is only appearance, if not worse' (Homily on the Jubilee of the Holy See). 27. 'Christ is God's answer to our human hunger, because his body is the bread of eternal life: Take this and eat of it, all of you!' (Homily on the solemnity of Corpus Christi). 28. 'When we partake of Jesus, the living and true bread, we live for him. By offering himself completely, the crucified and risen Lord delivers himself into our hands, and we realize that we were made to partake of God' (Homily on the solemnity of Corpus Christi). 29. 'The life of the Church and of the world, indeed, can only be understood in the succession of generations, and embracing an elderly person helps us understand that history is not exhausted in the present, nor is it consummated amid fleeting encounters and fragmentary relationships, but rather opens the way toward the future' (Message for the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly). 30. 'Unity in the Church and among the Churches, dear sisters and brothers, is fostered by forgiveness and mutual trust' (Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul). The priesthood 31. 'The priestly ministry is one of sanctification and reconciliation for the building up of the body of Christ in unity' (Jubilee for Priests). 32. 'All too often, today's world offers models of success and prestige that are dubious and short-lived. Do not let yourselves be taken in by them! Look rather to the solid example and apostolic fruitfulness, frequently hidden and unassuming, of those who, with faith and dedication, have spent their lives in service of the Lord and their brothers and sisters. Keep their memory alive by your own example of fidelity' (Jubilee for Priests). 33. 'Let us make an effort, then, to turn our differences into a workshop of unity and communion, of fraternity and reconciliation, so that everyone in the Church, each with his or her personal history, may learn to walk side by side' (Mass and blessing of the pallium of the new archbishops). 34. 'We should pray for the conversion of the many people, inside and outside the Church, who do not yet recognize the urgent need to care for our common home' (Mass for the Care of Creation). 35. 'While it is important that we live our faith in concrete actions and fidelity to our duties, according to each individual's state and vocation, it is also essential that we do so by starting from meditation on the word of God and by paying attention to what the Spirit suggests to our hearts, reserving, for this purpose, moments of silence, moments of prayer, times in which, silencing noise and distractions, we place ourselves before him and achieve unity within ourselves' (Mass at Albano). Young people 36. 'Dear young people, Jesus is our hope ... Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. Do not settle for less. You will then see the light of the Gospel growing every day, in you and around you' (Mass for the Jubilee of Young People). 37. 'And to young people, I say: 'Do not be afraid! Accept the invitation of the Church and of Christ the Lord!'' (The pope's first Regina Caeli). 38. 'You are the salt of the earth … You are the light of the world. And today your voices, your enthusiasm, your cries — which are all for Jesus Christ — will be heard to the ends of the earth' (Words of the pope at the inauguration Mass of the Jubilee of Young People). Hope 39. 'Amid life's trials, our hope is inspired by the firm and reassuring certainty of God's love, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. That hope does not disappoint' (Message from the World Day of the Poor). 40. 'By recognizing that God is our first and only hope, we too pass from fleeting hopes to a lasting hope . Once we desire that God accompany us on the journey of life, material wealth becomes relativized, for we discover the real treasure that we need' (Message from the World Day of the Poor). 41. 'In a world darkened by war and injustice, even when all seems lost, migrants and refugees stand as messengers of hope. Their courage and tenacity bear heroic testimony to a faith that sees beyond what our eyes can see and gives them the strength to defy death on the various contemporary migration routes' (World Day of Migrants Message). Self-giving and love of neighbor 42. 'The practice of worship does not automatically lead to being compassionate' (Catechesis at the general audience). 43. 'Let us ask the Lord for the gift of understanding where our life is stuck. Let us try to give voice to our desire to be healed' (Catechesis on the healing of the paralytic). 44. 'Every gesture of willingness, every gratuitous act, every forgiveness given in advance, every effort patiently accepted, is a way to prepare a place where God can dwell' (Catechesis on the preparation of the Passover meal). 45. 'Be agents of communion, capable of breaking down the logic of division and polarization, of individualism and egocentrism. Center yourselves on Christ, so as to overcome the logic of the world, of fake news, of frivolity, with the beauty and light of truth' (Jubilee of Digital Influencers and Missionaries). The meaning of life 46. 'A very widespread ailment of our time is the fatigue of living: Reality seems to us to be too complex, burdensome, difficult to face. And so we switch off, we fall asleep, in the delusion that, upon waking, things will be different. But reality has to be faced, and together with Jesus, we can do it well' (Catechesis on the woman with hemorrhages and Jairus' daughter). 47. 'It is very important to listen to the voice of the Lord, to listen to it, in this dialogue, and to see where the Lord is calling us towards' (Homily in the Crypt of St. Peter's Basilica). 48. 'At the root of every vocation, God is present, in his mercy and his goodness, as generous as that of a mother' (Homily at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls). 49. 'The fullness of our existence does not depend on what we store up or, as we heard in the Gospel, on what we possess. Rather, fullness has to do with what we joyfully welcome and share' (Mass for the Jubilee of Young People). 50. 'I am an Augustinian, a son of St. Augustine, who once said: 'With you I am a Christian, and for you I am a bishop.' In this sense, all of us can journey together toward the homeland that God has prepared for us' (First greeting after being elected).--CNA
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Business Standard
07-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Can American pope bring US-style fundraising to fix Vatican finances?
As a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost was often on the lookout for used cars that he could buy cheap and fix up himself for use in parishes around his diocese. With cars that were really broken down, he'd watch YouTube videos to learn how to fix them. That kind of make-do-with-less, fix-it-yourself mentality could serve Pope Leo XIV well as he addresses one of the greatest challenges facing him as pope: The Holy See's chronic, 50 million to 60 million euro ($57-68 million) structural deficit, 1 billion euro ($1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall and declining donations that together pose something of an existential threat to the central government of the 1.4-billion strong Catholic Church. As a Chicago-born math major, canon lawyer and two-time superior of his global Augustinian religious order, the 69-year-old pope presumably can read a balance sheet and make sense of the Vatican's complicated finances, which have long been mired in scandal. Whether he can change the financial culture of the Holy See, consolidate reforms Pope Francis started and convince donors that their money is going to good use is another matter. Leo already has one thing going for him: his American-ness. US donors have long been the economic life support system of the Holy See, financing everything from papal charity projects abroad to restorations of St Peter's Basilica at home. Leo's election as the first American pope has sent a jolt of excitement through US Catholics, some of whom had soured on donating to the Vatican after years of unrelenting stories of mismanagement, corruption and scandal, according to interviews with top Catholic fundraisers, philanthropists and church management experts. I think the election of an American is going to give greater confidence that any money given is going to be cared for by American principles, especially of stewardship and transparency, said the Rev. Roger Landry, director of the Vatican's main missionary fundraising operation in the US, the Pontifical Mission Societies. So there will be great hope that American generosity is first going to be appreciated and then secondly is going to be well handled, he said. That hasn't always been the circumstance, especially lately. Reforms and unfinished business Pope Francis was elected in 2013 on a mandate to reform the Vatican's opaque finances and made progress during his 12-year pontificate, mostly on the regulatory front. With help from the late Australian Cardinal George Pell, Francis created an economy ministry and council made up of clergy and lay experts to supervise Vatican finances, and he wrestled the Italian-dominated bureaucracy into conforming to international accounting and budgetary standards. He authorized a landmark, if deeply problematic, corruption trial over a botched London property investment that convicted a once-powerful Italian cardinal. And he punished the Vatican's Secretariat of State that had allowed the London deal to go through by stripping it of its ability to manage its own assets. But Francis left unfinished business and his overall record, at least according to some in the donor community, is less than positive. Critics cite Pell's frustrated reform efforts and the firing of the Holy See's first-ever auditor general, who says he was ousted because he had uncovered too much financial wrongdoing. Despite imposing years of belt-tightening and hiring freezes, Francis left the Vatican in somewhat dire financial straits: The main stopgap bucket of money that funds budgetary shortfalls, known as the Peter's Pence, is nearly exhausted, officials say. The 1 billion euro (USD1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall that Pell warned about a decade ago remains unaddressed, though Francis had planned reforms. And the structural deficit continues, with the Holy See logging an 83.5 million euro ($95 million) deficit in 2023, according to its latest financial report. As Francis' health worsened, there were signs that his efforts to reform the Vatican's medieval financial culture hadn't really stuck, either. The very same Secretariat of State that Francis had punished for losing tens of millions of euros in the scandalous London property deal somehow ended up heading up a new papal fundraising commission that was announced while Francis was in the hospital. According to its founding charter and statutes, the commission is led by the Secretariat of State's assessor, is composed entirely of Italian Vatican officials with no professional fundraising expertise and has no required external financial oversight. To some Vatican watchers, the commission smacks of the Italian-led Secretariat of State taking advantage of a sick pope to announce a new flow of unchecked donations into its coffers after its 600 million euro ($684 million) sovereign wealth fund was taken away and given to another office to manage as punishment for the London fiasco. There are no Americans on the commission. I think it would be good if there were representatives of Europe and Asia and Africa and the United States on the commission, said Ward Fitzgerald, president of the US-based Papal Foundation. It is made up of wealthy American Catholics that since 1990 has provided over $250 million (219 million euros) in grants and scholarships to the pope's global charitable initiatives. Fitzgerald, who spent his career in real estate private equity, said American donors especially the younger generation expect transparency and accountability from recipients of their money, and know they can find non-Vatican Catholic charities that meet those expectations. We would expect transparency before we would start to solve the problem, he said. That said, Fitzgerald said he hadn't seen any significant let-up in donor willingness to fund the Papal Foundation's project-specific donations during the Francis pontificate. Indeed, US donations to the Vatican overall have remained more or less consistent even as other countries' offerings declined, with US bishops and individual Catholics contributing more than any other country in the two main channels to donate to papal causes. A head for numbers and background fundraising Francis moved Prevost to take over the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2014. Residents and fellow priests say he consistently rallied funds, food and other life-saving goods for the neediest experience that suggests he knows well how to raise money when times are tight and how to spend wisely. He bolstered the local Caritas charity in Chiclayo, with parishes creating food banks that worked with local businesses to distribute donated food, said the Rev. Fidel Purisaca Vigil, a diocesan spokesperson. In 2019, Prevost inaugurated a shelter on the outskirts of Chiclayo, Villa San Vicente de Paul, to house desperate Venezuelan migrants who had fled their country's economic crisis. The migrants remember him still, not only for helping give them and their children shelter, but for bringing live chickens obtained from a donor. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Prevost launched a campaign to raise funds to build two oxygen plants to provide hard-hit residents with life-saving oxygen. In 2023, when massive rains flooded the region, he personally brought food to the flood-struck zone. Within hours of his May 8 election, videos went viral on social media of Prevost, wearing rubber boots and standing in a flooded street, pitching a solidarity campaign, Peru Give a Hand, to raise money for flood victims. The Rev. Jorge Milln, who lived with Prevost and eight other priests for nearly a decade in Chiclayo, said he had a mathematical mentality and knew how to get the job done. Prevost would always be on the lookout for used cars to buy for use around the diocese, Milln said, noting that the bishop often had to drive long distances to reach all of his flock or get to Lima, the capital. Prevost liked to fix them up himself, and if he didn't know what to do, he'd look up solutions on YouTube and very often he'd find them, Milln told The Associated Press. Before going to Peru, Prevost served two terms as prior general, or superior, of the global Augustinian order. While the order's local provinces are financially independent, Prevost was responsible for reviewing their balance sheets and oversaw the budgeting and investment strategy of the order's headquarters in Rome, said the Rev. Franz Klein, the order's Rome-based economist who worked with Prevost. The Augustinian campus sits on prime real estate just outside St. Peter's Square and supplements revenue by renting out its picturesque terrace to media organizations (including the AP) for major Vatican events, including the conclave that elected Leo pope. But even Prevost saw the need for better fundraising, especially to help out poorer provinces. Toward the end of his 12-year term and with his support, a committee proposed creation of a foundation, Augustinians in the World. At the end of 2023, it had 994,000 euros ($1.13 million) in assets and was helping fund self-sustaining projects across Africa, including a centre to rehabilitate former child soldiers in Congo. He has a very good interest and also a very good feeling for numbers, Klein said. I have no worry about the finances of the Vatican in these years because he is very, very clever.
07-06-2025
- Business
Can an American pope apply US-style fundraising and standards to fix troubled Vatican finances?
VATICAN CITY -- As a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost was often on the lookout for used cars that he could buy cheap and fix up himself for use in parishes around his diocese. With cars that were really broken down, he'd watch YouTube videos to learn how to fix them. That kind of make-do-with-less, fix-it-yourself mentality could serve Pope Leo XIV well as he addresses one of the greatest challenges facing him as pope: The Holy See's chronic, 50 million to 60 million euro ($57-68 million) structural deficit, 1 billion euro ($1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall and declining donations that together pose something of an existential threat to the central government of the 1.4-billion strong Catholic Church. As a Chicago-born math major, canon lawyer and two-time superior of his global Augustinian religious order, the 69-year-old pope presumably can read a balance sheet and make sense of the Vatican's complicated finances, which have long been mired in scandal. Whether he can change the financial culture of the Holy See, consolidate reforms Pope Francis started and convince donors that their money is going to good use is another matter. Leo already has one thing going for him: his American-ness. U.S. donors have long been the economic life support system of the Holy See, financing everything from papal charity projects abroad to restorations of St. Peter's Basilica at home. Leo's election as the first American pope has sent a jolt of excitement through U.S. Catholics, some of whom had soured on donating to the Vatican after years of unrelenting stories of mismanagement, corruption and scandal, according to interviews with top Catholic fundraisers, philanthropists and church management experts. 'I think the election of an American is going to give greater confidence that any money given is going to be cared for by American principles, especially of stewardship and transparency,' said the Rev. Roger Landry, director of the Vatican's main missionary fundraising operation in the U.S., the Pontifical Mission Societies. 'So there will be great hope that American generosity is first going to be appreciated and then secondly is going to be well handled,' he said. 'That hasn't always been the circumstance, especially lately.' Pope Francis was elected in 2013 on a mandate to reform the Vatican's opaque finances and made progress during his 12-year pontificate, mostly on the regulatory front. With help from the late Australian Cardinal George Pell, Francis created an economy ministry and council made up of clergy and lay experts to supervise Vatican finances, and he wrestled the Italian-dominated bureaucracy into conforming to international accounting and budgetary standards. He authorized a landmark, if deeply problematic, corruption trial over a botched London property investment that convicted a once-powerful Italian cardinal. And he punished the Vatican's Secretariat of State that had allowed the London deal to go through by stripping it of its ability to manage its own assets. But Francis left unfinished business and his overall record, at least according to some in the donor community, is less than positive. Critics cite Pell's frustrated reform efforts and the firing of the Holy See's first-ever auditor general, who says he was ousted because he had uncovered too much financial wrongdoing. Despite imposing years of belt-tightening and hiring freezes, Francis left the Vatican in somewhat dire financial straits: The main stopgap bucket of money that funds budgetary shortfalls, known as the Peter's Pence, is nearly exhausted, officials say. The 1 billion euro ($1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall that Pell warned about a decade ago remains unaddressed, though Francis had planned reforms. And the structural deficit continues, with the Holy See logging an 83.5 million euro ($95 million) deficit in 2023, according to its latest financial report. As Francis' health worsened, there were signs that his efforts to reform the Vatican's medieval financial culture hadn't really stuck, either. The very same Secretariat of State that Francis had punished for losing tens of millions of euros in the scandalous London property deal somehow ended up heading up a new papal fundraising commission that was announced while Francis was in the hospital. According to its founding charter and statutes, the commission is led by the Secretariat of State's assessor, is composed entirely of Italian Vatican officials with no professional fundraising expertise and has no required external financial oversight. To some Vatican watchers, the commission smacks of the Italian-led Secretariat of State taking advantage of a sick pope to announce a new flow of unchecked donations into its coffers after its 600 million euro ($684 million) sovereign wealth fund was taken away and given to another office to manage as punishment for the London fiasco. 'There are no Americans on the commission. I think it would be good if there were representatives of Europe and Asia and Africa and the United States on the commission,' said Ward Fitzgerald, president of the U.S.-based Papal Foundation. It is made up of wealthy American Catholics that since 1990 has provided over $250 million (219 million euros) in grants and scholarships to the pope's global charitable initiatives. Fitzgerald, who spent his career in real estate private equity, said American donors — especially the younger generation — expect transparency and accountability from recipients of their money, and know they can find non-Vatican Catholic charities that meet those expectations. 'We would expect transparency before we would start to solve the problem,' he said. That said, Fitzgerald said he hadn't seen any significant let-up in donor willingness to fund the Papal Foundation's project-specific donations during the Francis pontificate. Indeed, U.S. donations to the Vatican overall have remained more or less consistent even as other countries' offerings declined, with U.S. bishops and individual Catholics contributing more than any other country in the two main channels to donate to papal causes. Francis moved Prevost to take over the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2014. Residents and fellow priests say he consistently rallied funds, food and other life-saving goods for the neediest — experience that suggests he knows well how to raise money when times are tight and how to spend wisely. He bolstered the local Caritas charity in Chiclayo, with parishes creating food banks that worked with local businesses to distribute donated food, said the Rev. Fidel Purisaca Vigil, a diocesan spokesperson. In 2019, Prevost inaugurated a shelter on the outskirts of Chiclayo, Villa San Vicente de Paul, to house desperate Venezuelan migrants who had fled their country's economic crisis. The migrants remember him still, not only for helping give them and their children shelter, but for bringing live chickens obtained from a donor. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prevost launched a campaign to raise funds to build two oxygen plants to provide hard-hit residents with life-saving oxygen. In 2023, when massive rains flooded the region, he personally brought food to the flood-struck zone. Within hours of his May 8 election, videos went viral on social media of Prevost, wearing rubber boots and standing in a flooded street, pitching a solidarity campaign, 'Peru Give a Hand,' to raise money for flood victims. The Rev. Jorge Millán, who lived with Prevost and eight other priests for nearly a decade in Chiclayo, said he had a 'mathematical' mentality and knew how to get the job done. Prevost would always be on the lookout for used cars to buy for use around the diocese, Millán said, noting that the bishop often had to drive long distances to reach all of his flock or get to Lima, the capital. Prevost liked to fix them up himself, and if he didn't know what to do, 'he'd look up solutions on YouTube and very often he'd find them,' Millán told The Associated Press. Before going to Peru, Prevost served two terms as prior general, or superior, of the global Augustinian order. While the order's local provinces are financially independent, Prevost was responsible for reviewing their balance sheets and oversaw the budgeting and investment strategy of the order's headquarters in Rome, said the Rev. Franz Klein, the order's Rome-based economist who worked with Prevost. The Augustinian campus sits on prime real estate just outside St. Peter's Square and supplements revenue by renting out its picturesque terrace to media organizations (including the AP) for major Vatican events, including the conclave that elected Leo pope. But even Prevost saw the need for better fundraising, especially to help out poorer provinces. Toward the end of his 12-year term and with his support, a committee proposed creation of a foundation, Augustinians in the World. At the end of 2023, it had 994,000 euros ($1.13 million) in assets and was helping fund self-sustaining projects across Africa, including a center to rehabilitate former child soldiers in Congo. 'He has a very good interest and also a very good feeling for numbers,' Klein said. 'I have no worry about the finances of the Vatican in these years because he is very, very clever.' Franklin Briceño contributed from Lima, Peru.
Boston Globe
07-06-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Can an American pope apply US-style fundraising and standards to fix troubled Vatican finances?
Leo already has one thing going for him: his American-ness. U.S. donors have long been the economic life support system of the Holy See, financing everything from papal charity projects abroad to restorations of St. Peter's Basilica at home. Leo's election as the first American pope has sent a jolt of excitement through U.S. Catholics, some of whom had soured on donating to the Vatican after years of unrelenting stories of mismanagement, corruption and scandal, according to interviews with top Catholic fundraisers, philanthropists and church management experts. Advertisement 'I think the election of an American is going to give greater confidence that any money given is going to be cared for by American principles, especially of stewardship and transparency,' said the Rev. Roger Landry, director of the Vatican's main missionary fundraising operation in the U.S., the Pontifical Mission Societies. Advertisement 'So there will be great hope that American generosity is first going to be appreciated and then secondly is going to be well handled,' he said. 'That hasn't always been the circumstance, especially lately.' Reforms and unfinished business Pope Francis was elected in 2013 on a mandate to reform the Vatican's opaque finances and made progress during his 12-year pontificate, mostly on the regulatory front. With help from the late Australian Cardinal George Pell, Francis created an economy ministry and council made up of clergy and lay experts to supervise Vatican finances, and he wrestled the Italian-dominated bureaucracy into conforming to international accounting and budgetary standards. He authorized a landmark, if deeply problematic, corruption trial over a botched London property investment that convicted a once-powerful Italian cardinal. And he punished the Vatican's Secretariat of State that had allowed the London deal to go through by stripping it of its ability to manage its own assets. But Francis left unfinished business and his overall record, at least according to some in the donor community, is less than positive. Critics cite Pell's frustrated reform efforts and the firing of the Holy See's first-ever auditor general, who says he was ousted because he had uncovered too much financial wrongdoing. Despite imposing years of belt-tightening and hiring freezes, Francis left the Vatican in somewhat dire financial straits: The main stopgap bucket of money that funds budgetary shortfalls, known as the Peter's Pence, is nearly exhausted, officials say. The 1 billion euro ($1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall that Pell warned about a decade ago remains unaddressed, though Francis had planned reforms. And the structural deficit continues, with the Holy See logging an 83.5 million euro ($95 million) deficit in 2023, according to its latest financial report. Advertisement As Francis' health worsened, there were signs that his efforts to reform the Vatican's medieval financial culture hadn't really stuck, either. The very same Secretariat of State that Francis had punished for losing tens of millions of euros in the scandalous London property deal somehow ended up heading up a new papal fundraising commission that was announced while Francis was in the hospital. According to its founding charter and statutes, the commission is led by the Secretariat of State's assessor, is composed entirely of Italian Vatican officials with no professional fundraising expertise and has no required external financial oversight. To some Vatican watchers, the commission smacks of the Italian-led Secretariat of State taking advantage of a sick pope to announce a new flow of unchecked donations into its coffers after its 600 million euro ($684 million) sovereign wealth fund was taken away and given to another office to manage as punishment for the London fiasco. 'There are no Americans on the commission. I think it would be good if there were representatives of Europe and Asia and Africa and the United States on the commission,' said Ward Fitzgerald, president of the U.S.-based Papal Foundation. It is made up of wealthy American Catholics that since 1990 has provided over $250 million (219 million euros) in grants and scholarships to the pope's global charitable initiatives. Advertisement Fitzgerald, who spent his career in real estate private equity, said American donors — especially the younger generation — expect transparency and accountability from recipients of their money, and know they can find non-Vatican Catholic charities that meet those expectations. 'We would expect transparency before we would start to solve the problem,' he said. That said, Fitzgerald said he hadn't seen any significant let-up in donor willingness to fund the Papal Foundation's project-specific donations during the Francis pontificate. Indeed, U.S. donations to the Vatican overall have remained more or less consistent even as other countries' offerings declined, with U.S. bishops and individual Catholics contributing more than any other country in the two main channels to donate to papal causes. A head for numbers and background fundraising Francis moved Prevost to take over the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2014. Residents and fellow priests say he consistently rallied funds, food and other life-saving goods for the neediest — experience that suggests he knows well how to raise money when times are tight and how to spend wisely. He bolstered the local Caritas charity in Chiclayo, with parishes creating food banks that worked with local businesses to distribute donated food, said the Rev. Fidel Purisaca Vigil, a diocesan spokesperson. In 2019, Prevost inaugurated a shelter on the outskirts of Chiclayo, Villa San Vicente de Paul, to house desperate Venezuelan migrants who had fled their country's economic crisis. The migrants remember him still, not only for helping give them and their children shelter, but for bringing live chickens obtained from a donor. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prevost launched a campaign to raise funds to build two oxygen plants to provide hard-hit residents with life-saving oxygen. In 2023, when massive rains flooded the region, he personally brought food to the flood-struck zone. Advertisement Within hours of his May 8 election, videos went viral on social media of Prevost, wearing rubber boots and standing in a flooded street, pitching a solidarity campaign, 'Peru Give a Hand,' to raise money for flood victims. The Rev. Jorge Millán, who lived with Prevost and eight other priests for nearly a decade in Chiclayo, said he had a 'mathematical' mentality and knew how to get the job done. Prevost would always be on the lookout for used cars to buy for use around the diocese, Millán said, noting that the bishop often had to drive long distances to reach all of his flock or get to Lima, the capital. Prevost liked to fix them up himself, and if he didn't know what to do, 'he'd look up solutions on YouTube and very often he'd find them,' Millán told The Associated Press. Before going to Peru, Prevost served two terms as prior general, or superior, of the global Augustinian order. While the order's local provinces are financially independent, Prevost was responsible for reviewing their balance sheets and oversaw the budgeting and investment strategy of the order's headquarters in Rome, said the Rev. Franz Klein, the order's Rome-based economist who worked with Prevost. The Augustinian campus sits on prime real estate just outside St. Peter's Square and supplements revenue by renting out its picturesque terrace to media organizations (including the AP) for major Vatican events, including the conclave that elected Leo pope. But even Prevost saw the need for better fundraising, especially to help out poorer provinces. Toward the end of his 12-year term and with his support, a committee proposed creation of a foundation, Augustinians in the World. At the end of 2023, it had 994,000 euros ($1.13 million) in assets and was helping fund self-sustaining projects across Africa, including a center to rehabilitate former child soldiers in Congo. Advertisement 'He has a very good interest and also a very good feeling for numbers,' Klein said. 'I have no worry about the finances of the Vatican in these years because he is very, very clever.'
Herald Malaysia
22-05-2025
- General
- Herald Malaysia
Pope Leo XIV: 'Christ is our Saviour, and in Him, we are one family'
Pope Leo XIV praises the important global efforts of the Pontifical Mission Societies, marveling that they are "effectively the 'primary means' of awakening missionary responsibility among all the baptized and supporting ecclesial communities in areas where the Church is young. May 22, 2025 Pope Leo receives Pontifical Mission Societies in the Vatican (@Vatican Media) By Deborah Castellano Lubov"Today, as in the days after Pentecost, the Church, led by the Holy Spirit, pursues Her journey through history with trust, joy and courage as She proclaims the name of Jesus and the salvation born of faith in the saving truth of the Gospel. The Pontifical Mission Societies are an important part of this great effort." Pope Leo XIV gave this encouragement to the Societies on Thursday morning in the Vatican on the occasion of their General Assembly. "In their work of coordinating missionary formation and animating a missionary spirit on the local level," he urged, "I would ask the National Directors to give priority to visiting dioceses, parishes and communities, and in this way to help the faithful to recognize the fundamental importance of the missions and supporting our brothers and sisters in those areas of our world where the Church is young and growing." Speaking in English, the Holy Father, who remembered his own time as a missionary, commended those representing more than 120 countries before him for their meaningful work for the Church in the world. 'I can personally attest' "I begin by expressing my gratitude to you and your associates for your dedicated service, which is indispensable to the Church's mission of evangelization, as I can personally attest from my years of pastoral ministry in Peru." "The Pontifical Mission Societies are effectively the 'primary means,'' he stated, of "awakening missionary responsibility among all the baptized and supporting ecclesial communities in areas where the Church is young." In this context, the Pope drew attention to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, "which provides aid for pastoral and catechetical programmes, the building of new churches, healthcare, and educational needs in mission territories" and the Society of the Holy Childhood, which provides support for Christian formation programmes for children, in addition to caring for their basic needs and protection. Likewise, he cited the Society of Saint Peter the Apostle to "help cultivate missionary vocations, priestly and religious," and the Missionary Union "committed to forming priests, religious men and women, and all the people of God for the Church's missionary work." Our world needs to hear Gospel message of God's love The promotion of apostolic zeal among the People of God, Pope Leo underscored, "remains an essential aspect of the Church's renewal as envisioned by the Second Vatican Council, and is all the more urgent in our own day." "Our world, wounded by war, violence, and injustice," he insisted, "needs to hear the Gospel message of God's love and to experience the reconciling power of Christ's grace." 'Our world, wounded by war, violence and injustice needs to hear the Gospel message of God's love and to experience the reconciling power of Christ's grace.' In this sense, the Church herself, the Holy Father reaffirmed, is increasingly called to be 'a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the Word … and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity.' Urgency to bring Christ to all people Given this, Pope Leo XIV said, "We are to bring to all peoples, indeed to all creatures, the Gospel promise of true and lasting peace, which is possible because, in the words of Pope Francis, 'the Lord has overcome the world and its constant conflict 'by making peace through the blood of His Cross.'' Hence, he suggested, "we see the importance of fostering a spirit of missionary discipleship in all the baptized and a sense of the urgency of bringing Christ to all people." The Pope expressed his gratitude to them and their associates for their efforts each year in promoting World Mission Sunday on the second-to-last Sunday of October, "which is of immense help to me in my solicitude for the Churches in areas under the care of the Dicastery for Evangelization." In Christ, we are one family of God Before concluding his remarks, the Pope chose to reflect on two distinctive elements of the Societies' identity, namely communion and universality. "As Societies committed to sharing in the missionary mandate of the Pope and the College of Bishops," he explained, "you are called to cultivate and further promote within your members the vision of the Church as the communion of believers, enlivened by the Holy Spirit, who enables us to enter into the perfect communion and harmony of the blessed Trinity." "Indeed," he marveled, "it is in the Trinity that all things find their unity." With this sentiment, Pope Leo said, "This dimension of our Christian life and mission is close to my heart, and is reflected in the words of Saint Augustine that I chose for my episcopal service and for my papal ministry: In Illo uno unum . Christ is our Saviour and in Him we are one, a family of God, beyond the rich variety of our languages, cultures and experiences." 'This dimension of our Christian life and mission is close to my heart, and is reflected in the words of Saint Augustine that I chose for my episcopal service and for my papal ministry...' The richness that comes from knowing Jesus Christ The appreciation of our communion as members of the Body of Christ, the Holy Father explained, naturally "opens us to the universal dimension of the Church's mission of evangelization," and "inspires us to transcend the confines of our individual parishes, dioceses and nations, in order to share with every nation and people the surpassing richness of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. " Finally, Pope Leo concluded by reminding them that the Holy Year challenges all of us to be 'pilgrims of hope,' and thus, before entrusting them, their benefactors, and "their important work" to the Blessed Mother, encouraged them to be 'missionaries of hope among all peoples.' --Vatican News
