FADICA News

Chicago, IL – – The Board of Directors of Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities (FADICA), will confer the organization’s highest recognition, the Distinguished Catholic Leadership Award, on Bishop Ricardo Ramirez, C.S.B, of the Diocese of Las Cruces, on October 14, 2010. Bishop Ramirez was chosen to receive the award from the Catholic philanthropic community, “for his vision in shepherding with great wisdom and superb stewardship a home mission diocese of the United States,” said Francis J. Butler, FADICA’s president. He is also being selected “for his courageous advocacy for human dignity and empowerment of the poor,” Dr. Butler noted. The bishop will receive the award from FADICA at a special dinner in his honor given by the organization here on the eve of a conference it is co-sponsoring with the Catholic Church Extension Society. The conference will explore the ministry of women religious in the home mission dioceses of the United States. Catholic Extension funds 33 mission dioceses enabling them to employ women religious in a variety of capacities from diocesan management to social services. This is the tenth year in which the FADICA organization has conferred the DCLA. Past honorees include Cardinal John P. Foley, the late Chilean Jesuit; Father Renate Poblete, vocations and seminary researcher; Sister Katarina Schuth, O.S.F., Education for Parish Service founder; the late Sr. Joan Bland, S.N.D.; and founder of the Cristo Rey high schools network, Father John P. Foley, among others. Bishop Ramirez became the first bishop of the newly established Diocese of Las Cruces, New Mexico, in 1982.

Chicago, IL – – Members of the Catholic foundation world in cooperation with the Catholic Church Extension Society, a leading funding agency for the 88 home mission dioceses of the United States, will gather here October 15th to celebrate the leadership and ministerial service of Catholic sisters. The conference, entitled: The Leadership and Philanthropy of Women Religious: A Life of Passionate Service to the Home Missions, is the third conference of donors this current year sponsored by FADICA which explores the vast array of ministries of women religious in the United States. For over three hundred years Catholic sisters in America have worked hands on with people and communities in need. While most Catholics are familiar with the sisters’ presence in the urban centers of the country, much of their heroic leadership and service has been in territories of the country where the population of Catholics is sparse. In those areas, frequently it is a Catholic sister who is providing significant leadership so that the church’s work can go forward. Today religious women are training laity to be leaders of their parishes and managing the business aspects of running a small diocese. They are empowering the disenfranchised and working for justice, welcoming newly arrived immigrants, providing medical care as doctors and nurses and coordinating social services. They are directing religious education programs, offering spiritual counseling and visiting often isolated, elderly and disabled populations. Among those addressing the Catholic philanthropists attending the invitational conference are: Sr. Donna Gunn, CSJ, Diocese of Jackson, Director of Advocacy, Sacred Heart Family Center; Sr.

Washington, D.C. – – The leading membership association of major grantmakers to Catholic sponsored programs and institutions, FADICA has opened a month long search for candidates for a senior level position which will enhance public awareness of FADICA’s work and mission in faith based philanthropy. In making the announcement, FADICA’s President, Dr. Francis J. Butler, pointed out that the organization was looking for a talented and experienced person who is able to develop a communications and marketing strategy that will guide the organization over the next several years. Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities is a thirty four year old organization with a distinguished history of catalytic and constructive influence on religious giving and Catholic life. The organization is comprised of some fifty private foundations and grantmakers whose yearly charitable giving is in the range of a half billion dollars. FADICA sponsors regular conferences exploring faith based philanthropy and the future of the church. Its members have also joined together occasionally around funding partnerships in areas of common interest. Among FADICA’s accomplishments have been the founding of the National Religious Retirement Office; a start up role in the inauguration of a U.S. program of aid to restore the pastoral capacity of the Catholic church in twenty nine countries of eastern and central Europe and Russia; the creation of  Support Our Aging Religious (SOAR); the sponsorship of the first independent management studies of the Holy See; and funding collaboration in the founding of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, among other measures. FADICA is also the

Los Angeles – – Mother M. Clare Millea, ASCJ, Apostolic Visitator for the Vatican’s Congregation on Religious Life, told thirty-five members of FADICA gathered here on May 13-14, 2010, that the current examination of apostolic communities of women religious in the U.S. is more a process of self evaluation, reflection and affirmation than a probe of misconduct. “Nothing is forced,” Mother Millea said, “it’s all by invitation,” the sister reported. Speaking of the first phase of the process, which consisted of the circulation of prepared questionnaires, supplemented by face-to-face listening sessions, Mother Millea said: “I came in, I had no agenda. I just asked the religious to tell me their story, their hopes, their joys, their concerns.” The current third phase of the listening process has enlisted 78 religious who are helping Mother Millea gather interviews from about 85 U.S. congregations of women religious. “We’re getting some excellent feedback from the onsite visits,” she said. According to Mother Millea the process has been divided into four stages. The first two involved data gathering on 341 congregations. Some 78% of U.S. congregations provided the requested information, which Mother Millea said was “a wonderful statistic for a step in the process which is voluntary.” This current third phase of the inquiry, according to Mother Millea, will conclude this December, followed by the composition of a report to the Congregation on Religious Life based on data gathered, interviews and input from the communities. When pressed by members of FADICA as to her hopes and concerns for the process, Mother Clare

Los Angeles, CA – – The members of Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities will gather here May 13-14 to take part in the second in a series of conferences this year on the ministry of women religious. The invitation only gathering entitled: The Leadership and Philanthropy of Women Religious: Global Partnerships for Human Progress, will discuss the international dimensions of the work of Catholic sisters today. Sustainable agriculture, the work of sisters communities as NGO’s positioned at the United Nations, and the current ministry of sisters in Haiti, will serve as the principal areas for the discussion. The conference is co-sponsored by FADICA and the Conrad N. Hilton Fund for Sisters, a private foundation which has awarded over $75 million in grants to support the work of religious women, world wide. Also featured at the forthcoming gathering will be a presentation by Mother M. Clare Millea, ASCJ, of the Vatican Congregation on Religious Life. Mother Millea will explain to FADICA members the purposes and process of current Apostolic Visitation of religious communities in the United States. Mother Millea is a Connecticut native who is superior general of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, an international religious institute that has its headquarters in Rome. The number of Catholic sisters in the US declined from 173,865 in 1965 to 79,876 in 2000, according to Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. Earlier this year Mother Millea talked about the Visitiation saying, “We hope to discover and share the vibrancy and purpose that continue to

WASHINGTON, D.C. – – Georgetown University announced that it received a $6.9 million gift from the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation of Los Angeles to create and name three programs that will enrich the university’s 220-year-old Catholic and Jesuit heritage. The Leavey Foundation has been a member of FADICA for twenty eight years and its chair, Kathleen Leavey McCarthy, serves on FADICA’s board of directors. Of the sum, $5 million will provide permanent financial support for the university’s innovative Catholic programs in the Office of Mission and Ministry. The gift will endow programs and a new position that will provide expanded spiritual and educational opportunities for faculty, staff, students and alumni. Programs will allow participants to gain a deeper understanding of the Catholic and Jesuit traditions from which the university gains its identity. Enhanced programming will build a larger corps within the university community, so members may understand and live out Jesuit values, whatever their faith or role at the university. Another $1 million will provide need-based scholarship support, with preference to students from Jesuit high schools – including Cristo Rey schools, a national network of Catholic high schools that provide college preparatory education to urban young people who live in communities with limited educational options. Academic programs also will benefit from the Leavey Foundation’s gift, including $900,000 to help Georgetown recruit and retain outstanding Jesuit faculty members through the Leavey Distinguished Jesuit Scholars Fund. Since its creation in 1952, the Leavey Foundation has donated more than $100 million to beneficiaries in California and throughout the country,

Washington, D.C. – – A California based private foundation interested in Catholic organizations helping underserved populations of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, and an international medical aid agency were welcomed to the FADICA network of funders January 28, at the organization’s thirty fourth annual meeting. The Y and H Soda Foundation was founded by the late Mr. and Mrs. Y. Charles (Chet) Soda in 1964. Long time residents of the East Bay, both were active in a variety of civic, Catholic, and philanthropic organizations, and shared a special interest in helping low income families improve their lives and well-being. Mr. Soda was one of the original co-owners of the Oakland Raiders football team. As President of the Board of Port Commissioners of the Port of Oakland, he also played a significant role in developing the Port into the second largest container port in the United States. The foundation recently completed a strategic planning process for the next three years and has identified three areas of focus for its work in the East Bay: family economic success, community engagement and urban Catholic education. The Catholic Medical Mission Board was founded in 1928 and is rooted in the healing ministry of Jesus. The organization works collaboratively to provide quality healthcare programs and services, without discrimination, to people in need around the world. Most recently the CMMB has committed ten million dollars in special aid to Haiti in the wake of January’s earthquake there. CMMB has been working in Haiti since 1912 and maintains a key office there. Last year,

Washington, D.C. – – In the wake of an earthquake of historic proportions which leveled numerous areas of the capital of Haiti, Port-au Prince, and took the lives of the archbishop there and many clergy, seminarians, and religious, members of FADICA are joining in solidarity, prayers, and grant support for rescue and recovery efforts orchestrated through church related agencies. “We echo the words of Pope Benedict today calling for the generosity of everyone, and the effective support of the international community”, said Francis J. Butler, FADICA’s president. According to initial reports pieced together by various charitable and church related news agencies in Haiti, Port au Prince is completely devastated. Seminaries and churches have been reduced to rubble with widespread loss of life. Catholic Relief Services of Baltimore, the main vehicle for the U.S. church’s emergency aid globally, reported that the dead and injured in the wake of the earthquake is “incredible all around”. The Holy Father affirmed through his public statement that the “Catholic Church will not fail to move immediately, through her charitable institutions, to meet the most immediate needs of the population.” This quake, which was followed by 12 aftershocks ranging between a magnitude of 5.0 and 5.9, was the strongest in that region since 1770. It is estimated that some 3 million people were affected by the disaster. Click here for an interview with Archbishop Dolan, chairman of Catholic Relief Services, on relief effort.

Washington, D.C. — Three members of Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities will join with a delegation of three U.S. bishops and one American Cardinal who will visit South Africa August 27- September 5, 2009. The delegation will also include four senior staff members of the United States Conference of Bishops. The group is undertaking the visit in connection with the work of the Solidarity Fund for Africa program of the Catholic Church in the United States. The program aims to provide pastoral aid to the rapidly growing Catholic churches in African nations. The delegation is expected to visit rural parishes, refugee camps, hospitals and medical treatment clinics working with HIV/AIDS patients, as well as other sites where pastoral care among the poor is offered through Catholic ministries. The Solidarity Fund for Africa program was inaugurated in 2007 and is rapidly expanding its base of support among Catholic archdioceses and dioceses throughout the United States through a parish- based collection and, it is hoped, funding partnerships with private foundations and other donors interested in the future of the church in the fifty-three nation continent of Africa. African Catholicism is growing at a breathtaking pace and numbers about one quarter of the entire Catholic population of the globe. Too often, the church’s pastoral mission within many countries of Africa is mired in abject poverty, political instability, famine, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. While seminaries and religious communities burst at the seams with new members, lack of financial resources and external aid leaves the churches in Africa sorely incapacitated.

Washington, D.C. – – A published, edited, conversation between funders and bishops occurring last month here , urges leaders of the U.S. hierarchy to include Catholic schools among the top priorities that will command church leadership emphasis for the next three years. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has undertaken a new priority setting process whereby five areas of church life will receive special attention and programming that will impact parish and diocesan activities nationwide. The priorities will be approved this coming fall when the entire hierarchy meets here to set its direction until 2013. The five priority subjects include: Deepening faith in Jesus Christ; strengthening marriage and sacramental practice; encouraging and celebrating cultural diversity; enhancing efforts on behalf of human dignity; and promoting vocations to priesthood and religious life. To date, Catholic schools, have not been included in the national action plan and priorities to be approved by the bishops. Members of Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, a consortia of private funders, urged the bishops to consider the accelerating rate of Catholic school closures nationwide and enlist the attention and action of wider sectors of America to save these valuable institutions. “What do you say to people who feel that these schools are being lost to us as a church and that our institutional capacity in education is shrinking?” FADICA ‘s President, Francis J. Butler, asked USCCB Vice President Bishop Gerald Kicanas, Chairman of the conference’s planning process. “Why is this not a top priority for the bishops especially when time is