The Papal Foundation

For the second year in a row, there was a simultaneous review of the Vatican’s requests by the Mission Fund Committee. Based on the type of grant request, the Committee identified 14 grants that were humanitarian in nature totaling $1,298,955 that the Mission Fund Committee later reviewed and also recommended to the Board for approval.

The Grants committee utilized the Foundation’s online grants management system to review the grants and to share thoughts, questions and opinions on each of the grant requests. With the overall available monies total in mind, the Grants Committee voted to recommend 130 grants for approval.

The Grants Committee received 177 grant requests from the Vatican in the Fall of 2025. The committee, comprised of Trustees and Steward Advisors, conducted a grant-by-grant evaluation of each of the submissions, which represented $15,663,197 in Vatican-recommended grant requests.

Mission Fund grants have facilitated the many good works done by organizations directly serving the poorest of the poor in communities around the world. It:
• Created shelters for the poor, abandoned and orphaned
• Supported the creation and funding for soup kitchens to feed the hungry
• Provided the care, education (including college), medical needs and employment training for orphans and abandoned children
• Trained adults in employment skills to help them find work
• Provided transportation for people to get to medical care
• Helped hospitals in poor countries to obtain medical equipment, as well as provided them with medicines and medical services
• Provided nutrition and food for the sick and hungry

The Saint John Paul II Scholarship Fund of The Papal Foundation is a student support program that provides scholarships for priests, seminarians, religious and laity from developing nations where such resources are limited.

The Papal Foundation awarded support to 143 programs and projects in 2025. Grants and scholarships have totaled more than $60,000,000 since 2022 and reach around the world.
https://www.thepapalfoundation.org/grants-in-action/

The Papal Foundation wishes you and your loved ones a joyful and blessed Christmas! May this season be filled with peace, love, and hope for all.

The Papal Foundation is a charitable organization in the United States dedicated to fulfilling the requests of the Holy Father for the needs of the Catholic Church in developing countries.

Since its inception in 1988, The Papal Foundation has allocated more than $260 million in grants and scholarships around the world to more than 2300 projects selected by Popes Francis and Benedict, and Saint John Paul II.