The Papal Foundation this week announced a record-setting $15 million in grants for its annual distribution of humanitarian aid to support more than 144 projects across 75 countries.
Since its founding, the Papal Foundation has served the Catholic Church with collaboration of laity, clergy, and hierarchy. The United States-based organization is dedicated to fulfilling the requests of the Holy Father for the needs of the Church in developing countries.
The foundation has distributed more than $270 million in grants, scholarships, and humanitarian aid to more than 2,700 projects selected by Pope Leo XIV, Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI, and St. John Paul II.
During his recent papal trip to Africa April 13–23, Pope Leo prayed at the Basilica of St. Augustine in Annaba, Algeria, and he visited the restored Church of Notre Dame d'Afrique. Both sites were restored through the generosity of The Papal Foundation, with investments of $90,000 each from the foundation in 2008.
This year, The Papal Foundation's board of trustees approved $15 million, including $12,502,765 in current grants and an additional $3 million to be distributed in 2026 to further new projects.
The grants will fund initiatives across the globe including the construction and renovation of Catholic schools, classrooms, monasteries, orphanages, and medical clinics in numerous countries including Tanzania, the Central African Republic, and the Philippines.
"This year's grants are a powerful testament to what can be accomplished through faithful stewardship and shared mission," said Ward Fitzgerald, president of The Papal Foundation board of trustees, in a press release announcing the grants.
"Each project represents hope, meeting urgent needs and strengthening the resolve of the Catholic Church community in developing nations," he said.
In Tanzania, the grant will aid the creation of a dormitory to rescue girls from early marriage, trafficking, and sexual abuse, and boys from school dropout. In India, a safe school for marginalized tribal children will be built.
The grants will fund the creation of a library and technology center in the Central African Republic and professional IT training for vulnerable women in the Philippines. Also, in the Republic of Guinea, a well and water tower will be built for the community.
"Supporting these life-changing grants is the core of the mission of The Papal Foundation," Fitzgerald said. "The impact we have on the poor and most vulnerable is the organization's gift to the Church and the Catholic Church's gift to its people around the world."
Requests for the grants come in from developing nations after local bishops identify the most urgent needs. They are then advanced by apostolic nuncios to the foundation's grants committee.
The requests are then reviewed through the assessor's office at the Vatican, led by its current assessor for general affairs of the secretariat Monsignor Anthony Onyemuche Ekpo.
Members of the foundation's grants committee met with Ekpo this week to review proposals and begin building a working relationship.
"It was encouraging to meet Monsignor Ekpo at the start of his tenure and to hear his focus on expanding impact while strengthening efficiency and accountability," Fitzgerald told EWTN News.
"Those are principles we take seriously. Our goal is to be the most highly disciplined and transparent steward of funds, and the most effective means to get resources to the most in need."
Fitzgerald noted Ekpo's work in Nigeria and in Australia, which he said has proven to be strength allowing him to bring "a clear understanding of the realities facing developing countries, along with firsthand experience in more advanced economies."
"That perspective allows us to evaluate requests more effectively and align our resources with the priorities identified by the Holy Father," Fitzgerald said.
Growing engagement
The Holy Father met with members of the Papal Foundation in an audience at the Vatican on May 2, where he said he was "deeply grateful" for the work of the foundation "to assist the Successor of Peter in his mission to care for the needs of the universal Church."
"Your generosity has allowed countless people to experience in a concrete fashion the goodness and kindness of God in their own communities," the pope said.
He pointed out that the charity workers "will probably never meet everyone who has benefitted from your kindness, so in their name I express heartfelt appreciation."
The 2026 grants are the result of an evaluation process led by the foundation's grants committee, chaired by Dr. Tammy Tenaglia of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, with assistance from the foundation's mission fund committee.
The work of The Papal Foundation has been accomplished with the help of the foundation's Stewards of Saint Peter, which is made up of North American Catholic philanthropists committed to bringing the love of Christ to those most in need.
Since Pope Leo's election, the community of Stewards of Saint Peter has welcomed 25 new families committed to supporting the Holy Father's mission to serve the poor.
"The growth we're seeing is incredibly encouraging, as it reflects a shared commitment to serve, to give, and to bring the Church's mission to life in meaningful ways across the globe," said David Savage, executive director of The Papal Foundation.
The foundation's annual pilgrimage to Rome the week of April 27 brought together 56 of the Steward families. Led by The Papal Foundation's chairman, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the trip included a visit to St. Peter's Basilica and an audience with Pope Leo XIV on Saturday, May 2.
