FADICA News

With sincere joy and heartfelt prayers, Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities (FADICA) welcomes Pope Francis.     We join our prayers with Catholics and people of good will throughout the world in sending our blessing to the new Holy Father. May God be always close to him and may Jesus guide his steps in service to our beloved Church and the people of God.    Pope Francis’ humble spirit, his love of the poor, his commitment to the Gospel, and his example of servant leadership will be a blessing for all of the faithful. FADICA members look forward to the powerful witness Pope Francis will offer the world. We are eager to support our new shepherd in relieving human suffering, supporting our Church, and building–piece by piece–the kingdom of God in today’s complex world.

Over 70 FADICA members and guests gathered earlier this month for FADICA’s thirty-seventh annual membership meeting and symposium, Nurturing our Tradition and Engaging our Future: New Leadership, New Collaboration. The symposium showcased new and innovative leaders from a number of Catholic charitable organizations, including Caritas Internationalis and Jesuit Commons. Symposium dialogue and panel presentations focused on creating innovative models of collaboration, youth engagement, and the need to harness new technology and social media to achieve greater mission impact. Panels covered both domestic and international sectors of Catholic nonprofit and charitable efforts, and guest speakers included Michel Roy, General Secretary of Caritas Internationalis (Rome), and Christine Healey, Executive Director of the Catholic School Development Program (NJ). At the annual meeting, FADICA’s Board of Directors elected new officers of the organization.  Sr. Sally Duffy, SC, President of the SC Ministry Foundation was elected Chair.  Forrest N. Jenkins, Director and Immediate Past Chair of the Assisi Foundation of Memphis, was elected Vice Chair;  John C. Vatterott, Trustee of the Joan and John Vatterott Foundation, was elected Treasurer; and Deborah A. Estes, President of the Specialty Family Foundation, was elected Secretary. “FADICA members, as Catholic philanthropists, bring Jesus’ ministry and Catholic social teaching to life in their own communities and around the world.  I look forward to working with all of our members and partners to support our Church and the people of God as they serve the common good and the most vulnerable,” said FADICA’s newly elected Chair, Sr. Sally Duffy, SC.  Members also launched several new “affinity” working groups

Washington, DC – William F. Raskob, Chairman of the Board of Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities (FADICA), today announced that Alexia K. Kelley has been appointed the next president and CEO of the organization. She succeeds Dr. Francis J. Butler, who served as president for over three decades and retired earlier this year. “Alexia has a distinguished record of leadership and service in the church, the nonprofit world and government. Her strong commitment to her faith, a history of enabling younger people to develop their leadership, and a keen understanding of the broad scope of the nation’s religious and charitable organizations will serve our network of grant makers well,” said Mr. Raskob. Kelley brings a wealth of experience in various sectors to FADICA, including time at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), leading nonprofits, and serving in the White House’s Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Contributing to the USCCB’s anti-poverty initiative, Kelley worked at the Catholic Campaign for Human Development from 1993 through 2002. She then joined the Environmental Resources Trust where she advocated for market-based solutions to renewable energy promotion and climate change mitigation, before co-founding Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, where she supported lay Catholic engagement on Catholic social teaching and related issues of human life and dignity, poverty, the environment, and peace. “I look forward to working with FADICA members who are so committed to supporting and strengthening the Church and making positive impact in society, particularly through serving the most vulnerable. Their generosity has long inspired

Catholic grant makers belonging to FADICA will gather November 15-16 for a retreat with best selling author Ronald Rolheiser, an Oblate of Mary Immaculate priest who will facilitate a spiritual retreat on servant leadership. The FADICA fall program is an annual gathering of philanthropists who work together to strengthen the spiritual supports of their charitable work through prayer, fellowship and reflection. This year’s theme is: Leading Like Christ: The Wisdom of Servant Leadership. Father Rolheiser, author of the newly released book Our One Great Act of Fidelity, Restless Heart, and the Holy Longing, will lead a series of conversations on the principal moral virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance and the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity in the exercise of leadership. The gathering at Yale University’s St. Thomas More Chapel and Catholic Center will provide philanthropists with an opportunity to tour one of the nation’s most vibrant campus ministries. The FADICA organization has served for over three decades as a network connecting Catholic grant makers through conferencing services and enabling cooperative grant making among private foundations. Catholic spirituality and campus ministry have been among topics of great interest to the network. Throughout FADICA’s history,  members have come together with some of the most gifted Catholic spiritual writers and thinkers of modern times including the late Henri Nouwen, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, Cardinal Carlo Martini SJ, Trappist Basil Pennington, author Rosemary Haughton, and Lawrence Cunningham among others.

Washington DC –  Philip D. Lewis, former board chairman of Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, a former State Senator and philanthropist, is being mourned by the Catholic foundation community across the country, following his death on September 4. “We have lost a true servant leader,” said William F. Raskob, board chair of FADICA. “One who lived his faith through humble, personal service to the poor, and whose trademark was big-hearted, generous, loving encouragement to those who brought the message of Christ to a hurting world.”Mr. Lewis served as chairman of the board of FADICA from 2002 until 2005. He also was active in FADICA for over three decades. Raised in Chicago and Palm Beach, Mr. Lewis was the son of the late Frank J. Lewis, a founding member of Lewis University, and a Chicago roofing and paving materials manufacturer. Philip Lewis was a Florida State Senator for a decade and served as its President of the Senate from 1978 until 1980. A close friend of many church leaders, Mr. Lewis was in attendance for the Second Vatican Council as a lay advisor. On the occasion of FADICA’s 30th anniversary in 2006, Mr. Lewis shared his reflections on church related philanthropy drawing from his life of service and positive, hopeful outlook. “We are a people… we must always reflect that by encouraging one another and building up one another. Relationship building must always be of the utmost importance to us,” Mr. Lewis said. A daily mass participant wherever he travelled, Mr. Lewis was a proponent

Washington, DC -A former board chairman and a former board treasurer of FADICA passed away on the same day, April 24th. Timothy J. O’ Shaughnessy, FADICA’s former board chair, died in South Bend, Indiana, at the age of 68. “Tim was a generous and perceptive philanthropic leader and board member who embodied care and compassion in all the many things he did for others,” remarked William F. Raskob, FADICA’s current chair. “The Catholic philanthropic community joins me in applauding Tim’s Christian example, his love for the Catholic church, and his leadership and service in FADICA,” Mr. Raskob added. “Tim and his wonderful family are in our prayers,” he said. Timothy J. O’ Shaughnessy was president of the I.A. O’Shaughnessy Foundation of St. Paul.  A Navy veteran and university teacher, Mr. O’ Shaughnessy was also professionally engaged in the world of geriatric care, providing psychological services to nursing homes.  He served on numerous boards including the University of Notre Dame’s Erasmus Center. George E. Doty Sr., an emeritus member of the FADICA board of directors, and a former board treasurer, also died on the same day as Mr. O’Shaughnessy. Mr. Doty had been active in FADICA from the mid 1980’s until last year, serving as the organization’s treasurer from 1986 until 1991. Under Mr. Doty’s leadership, FADICA conducted the first independent management study of the Holy See.  The work centered on auditing capacities and the study led to a major strengthening of financial budgeting and auditing by the Economic Prefecture of the Holy See. As a philanthropist, Mr. Doty

Washington, DC – Philip D. Lewis, former board chairman of Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities (FADICA) and trustee of the Frank J. Lewis Foundation of Riviera Beach, FL, was honored March 29, 2012, by citizens of Palm Beach County for his lifetime work to end poverty and homelessness. To mark the special day, the county commissioners dedicated a new centrally located facility as the Philip D. Lewis Center. The new center will provide interim housing, medical care, counseling and skill training for homeless individuals and families. Mr. Lewis has been an influential civic and political leader in Florida. He served as president of the Florida Senate in the early 1980’s and has been a passionate advocate for the poor throughout his life. Mr. Lewis served as chair of FADICA from 2002 to 2005 and has been a member of its Board of Directors for three decades. Mr. Lewis, the father of nine children and thirteen grandchildren, is one of the most admired and respected Catholic philanthropists in the nation. Read more in the Palm Beach Post.

Washington, DC – Among the many achievements of FADICA over its thirty-six year history has been its substantial role in mobilizing the church to help thousands of retired religious across the nation. FADICA’s influence in starting the Religious Retirement Office and national annual appeal to benefit religious orders figured prominently in a March 28, 2012, story by correspondent Jerry Filteau of the National Catholic Reporter. The article paid tribute to FADICA’s retired president, Francis J. Butler, who led the organization of 42 private foundations and three donors for thirty-two years. Filteau pointed out that FADICA’s intervention led to the biggest annual national collection ever, the collection for retired religious, as well as the creation of Support Our Aging Religious, a charity providing grants for medical equipment and other necessities for aging women and men religious. Restoration of ministries of women religious in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, was also cited as a unique contribution of FADICA. Working in cooperation with the SC Ministry Foundation, and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, FADICA members raised $7.5 million to jump start the rebuilding of New Orleans-based Catholic schools and social services sponsored by sisters. The sisters were without resources when the deadly and devastating storm hit New Orleans because the Federal Emergency Management Agency found that the sisters were ineligible for assistance, the NCR story reported. To compound the problem, reporter Filteau said, a special parish collection taken up nationally at the time was mainly designated for dioceses rather than religious orders. Sr. Sally Duffy, SC, a key FADICA leader

Washington, D.C. – Dr. Erik P. Goldschmidt, Executive Vice President of Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, has been named Director of the Church in the 21st Century Center at Boston College today in an announcement made by the university’s president, Father William Leahy, SJ. “Erik has been a tremendous asset to FADICA,” said Dr. Francis J. Butler,  the organization’s president, upon the news of  the appointment. “It is no surprise that a rising talent like Erik would find it hard to resist this great opportunity at BC for leadership and service,” Dr. Butler said.  “We will miss him as a bright and energetic presence on our staff, and we remain extremely grateful for all that he accomplished for us during his tenure here.” Dr. Goldschmidt came to FADICA at the beginning of 2011 to coordinate FADICA’s work with a younger generation of foundation leaders and to manage the planning of donor conferences on Catholic philanthropy among other projects. Dr. Goldschmidt arrived at FADICA following work at Boston College’s Center for Child, Family and Community Partnerships, where he oversaw the development of an innovative student support system in fourteen urban elementary schools in the Archdiocese of Boston. He received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Boston College, and holds graduate degrees in teaching and theology from the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Goldschmidt also did his undergraduate work at Notre Dame and served in its ACE volunteer program as a teacher for several years. The Directorship position at Boston College’s Church in  21st Century Center will entail helping the university address contemporary challenges facing

Washington, D.C. – “Striking is the impact of Catholic schools on low income students,” said Francis J. Butler, President of FADICA during a November 30, 2011 Conference on Education Tax Credits at the Catholic University of America. “Despite research that has consistently shown that the level of poverty in an American school is associated with lower achievement,” Dr. Butler told conferees, “research has also found that this correlation is not statistically significant in Catholic schools.” The CUA conference, sponsored by its Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies, included an array of public policy experts, Catholic school and church leaders and legal scholars who were exploring Tuition Tax Credits from a Catholic schools perspective. Dr. Butler attributed the success of Catholic schools with poverty populations to the school’s distinctive educational approach. He urged the Catholic community to argue its case before public policy makers more on the contribution that Catholic schools make in producing good citizens rather than focusing on the schools themselves.  “Yearly, we are educating some two million students at the estimated cost of about $10 billion in the seven thousand Catholic schools,” Dr. Butler said. “Yet, we are saving the American tax payer at least $20 billion annually,” he continued. Dr. Butler reviewed new tuition tax credits programs implemented in state legislatures over the past ten years and remarked: “new sources of funds are not only putting an excellent education within the reach of more low income families, but are enabling the church to expand its capacity to serve the poor.” Currently Arizona, Florida,