Kerry Alys Robinson of FADICA member Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities is the next president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA). Kerry started her tenure August 23 as the second laywoman to serve in this capacity for CCUSA.
As a businessman and philanthropist, Tom Healey views his Healey Family Foundation’s charitable endeavors through a pragmatic business lens.
A National Discernment Day on Catholic Correctional Ministries, co-hosted by the USCCB and Catholic Mobilizing Network, was held on April 24, 2018 at Catholic University. It was prompted by the consensus that leadership structures for U.S. Catholic prison ministry are very weak, which is especially concerning given our country’s incarceration rate, the highest in the world. The meeting was catalyzed by Pope Francis’ question on the state of U.S. Catholic prison ministry. Prison ministry and correctional leaders participated, along with three bishops, other relevant leaders, and the Order of Malta.
Recent research released by the Hilton Foundation finds that 72% of Americans hold Catholic sisters in high regard, yet have limited understanding of their life and work. The newly launched Sister to All campaign distills the research for use on social media and traditional news outlets. Discover more about Americans’ perceptions of Catholic sisters by visiting the Sisters to All website and using #SisterToAll, to promote greater understanding of the vitality and impact of women religious in our Church and society.
On the eve of his historic visit to the United States, Pope Francis affectionately connected with audiences in three U.S. cities in surprise virtual town hall meetings. In Chicago, Cristo Rey Jesuit students gathered to video chat in the very same school chapel FADICA members visited during their June 2014 meeting. An audience of homeless men and women and those who provide assistance in Los Angeles, and members of Sacred Heart Church on the border in McAllen, Texas, also gathered to dialogue with the Holy Father in their hometowns. During these emotional conversations, Pope Francis consistently spoke a message of courage to everyday Americans who shared their stories of hardship and survival. In one particularly emotional moment in McAllen, the Holy Father reached out to a religious sister who ministers to recent immigrants in desperate need of aid. Speaking to her of the work of all sisters in religious orders in the United States, Pope Francis praised and congratulated their efforts, thanked them, and effusively told Sister Norma Pimentel how he loved all sisters very much.View ABC’s complete footage of the Papal Virtual Audience here. Follow the conversation on Twitter, #AudienceWithPope
Over 120 leading Catholic philanthropists, bishops, educators, Hispanic ministry leaders and business leaders participated in the historic symposium, Hispanic Leadership and Philanthropy for a 21st Century Church, held in San Antonio, Texas, June 24-25, 2015. The dynamic gathering called for greater investment to support leadership development of those in Hispanic ministry.“Our hope is that the new partnerships and creative opportunities identified will bear much fruit for Hispanic leadership and engagement in our Church and in our communities, and will contribute to new models of collaboration and innovation that support a vital Church,” said FADICA President Alexia Kelley. Follow and join the conversation on this unique national symposium by using #HispCathLead2015. The symposium was sponsored by Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities (FADICA), the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, the Mexican American Catholic College, and the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.
Pope Francis’ much-awaited encyclical contains an urgent challenge to protect our common home, the earth, and calls for an ecological approach that “hears both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.” In Laudato Si, On Care for Our Common Home, Pope Francis seeks “to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change.” At a press conference on the encyclical’s release, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, noted that Laudato Si reflects the Church’s longstanding social tradition of “reading the signs of the times.” During the press conference, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, highlighted three opportunities for Catholic engagement based on the encyclical: To advocate on the global, national and local levels for the common good For the church to continue to take seriously the formation of young people and adults in integral ecology; the encyclical emphasizes that young people “demand change.” For the church to consider the use of its resources, such as construction of church buildings, in ways that honor the earth. In a special message to FADICA, Dan Misleh of the Catholic Climate Covenant said the encyclical “provides a new moment for Catholic philanthropy. Supporting efforts to ‘till less and keep more,’ if I can paraphrase Cardinal Turkson, is a worthy endeavor and a critical response to the challenges Pope Francis has laid before us.” Learn more & get involved at: Catholic Climate Covenant Global Catholic Climate Movement “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who
Catholic parishes in Italy are presently receiving church management training through a new program launched by the Villanova School of Business in Pennsylvania and the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. In an interview with RNS, Charles Zech, Director of the Center for Church Management and Business Ethics at Villanova, said the collaboration is expected to have “an immediate impact.”
The annual celebration of National Catholic Sisters Week (NCSW), March 8-14, is a time to shine a national spotlight on the good works and good will of Catholic sisters. To honor women religious both past and present, a series of events are being held around the country that recognizes their selfless service and legacy. Held in conjunction with National Women’s History Month and during the Year of Consecrated Life, #NCSW also serves to inspire young women to learn more about women religious. Headquartered at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota, NCSW is supported by a generous grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, a FADICA member.
At the first papal consistory held earlier this year, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Kelvin Edward Felix to Cardinal in recognition of Cardinal Felix’s lifetime of selfless service to the poor and disenfranchised. Born in Dominica and ordained in 1956, he is the first cardinal to be named from the Antilles bishops’ conference. While serving as Archbishop in St. Lucia, Cardinal Felix worked tirelessly serving the needs of primary and secondary Catholic schools, vocational schools, and homes for the elderly, homeless and orphans. Currently in Dominica, Cardinal Felix continues his work with the poor and disenfranchised. Through the Cardinal Felix Foundation, Dominica’s most vulnerable population receives much-needed assistance to meet their basic needs. Serving the poor and orphaned children, disadvantaged and abandoned elderly, directionless youth, and those who are disabled in Dominica, the Cardinal Felix Foundation is making a difference to those often forgotten. Formally called the St. Lucia Island Foundation, the Cardinal Felix Foundation is grateful for support from FADICA member foundations serving the Catholic Church in the Caribbean, who have made this crucial work possible.
FADICA is the leading philanthropic peer network serving as a catalyst for a vital Catholic Church, Catholic ministries, and the common good. We promote the growth and effectiveness of Catholic philanthropy inspired by the joy of the Gospel and the Catholic social tradition. FADICA supports its members through education, exchange, fellowship and faith, research, joint funding opportunities, and interaction with Catholic leadership.
