Washington, DC – Francis J. Butler, FADICA’s president for over three decades, will retire February 4th following the organization’s thirty-sixth annual meeting.
Mr. Butler, who joined FADICA four years after it started in 1976, worked previously for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, where he was Domestic Policy Director.
Under Mr. Butler’s leadership FADICA grew from about a dozen member foundations to over forty grantmakers today, with combined annual giving near half billion dollars.
FADICA functions as a network for private philanthropy and features conferences, facilitates joint ventures, and is often a vehicle for foundation interaction with Catholic agencies.
Its accomplishments include the establishment of charities for assistance to retired American religious; a program of aid to church rebuilding in Eastern and Central Europe; and the strengthening of auditing and financial reporting capacities of the Holy See.
FADICA played a major role in starting and sustaining a national dialogue among Catholic university and college presidents regarding the implementation of Ex Corde Ecclesiae, the Apostolic Constitution on Catholic Higher Education.
“It was my good fortune and privilege to have been given the unique opportunity to work with lay people who were steering the world of Catholic philanthropy in a brand new direction,” said Mr. Butler.
“Our philanthropists and their families profoundly grasped and were deeply committed to Vatican II’s call for the laity to reflect on their responsibilities as baptized members of their church,” he continued.
“We liked working together and we felt certain that a communal, institutional collaboration is essential to good philanthropy,” he added.
“The good we achieved together is sure to reverberate in our church for years to come,” Mr. Butler concluded.
