Latest news with #American-ness
Boston Globe
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
How does it feel to be an American? We asked, and you answered.
We heard from schoolteachers, IT professionals, musicians, veterans, retirees, and caregivers. Above all, we heard from a pool of people deeply committed to the American project. Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Pride, betrayal, and duty: A veteran's call to lead by example Ian Thomson, military veteran and entrepreneur, Cape Town, South Africa Born abroad to American and Colombian parents, raised across cultures and continents, educated at Boston University, my identity was never simple. At 18, I consciously chose America; not out of obligation but out of admiration for its core values. My commitment deepened when I joined the Marines, eager to embody and defend the principles that drew me: liberty, equality of opportunity, and the promise of justice for all. I finally felt that my American-ness was unquestionable when I first pinned on the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor at the end of officer candidate school, where the motto was 'ductus exemplo' — imploring us to lead by example. Those ideals were tested when strict rules of engagement clashed with my conscience: facing an injured child in a war zone, I chose humanitarian compassion over military compliance (and I was proud that in that moment I served my country faithfully). It was a reminder of the paradox of law, that sometimes obedience becomes complicity, and disobedience becomes our duty. Rosa Parks broke the law — and she was right. Nazi concentration camp guards, tobacco executives, and Enron accountants all hid behind the law — and they were wrong. Morality does not reside in compliance; it resides in conscience. Today, however, my American pride is tinged with a sense of betrayal — not solely by leaders acting in self-interest, but by my fellow Americans, whose silence and acceptance of falsehoods allow dangerous narratives pushed by our leaders to flourish. Recent events remind us how easily power cloaks itself in moral pretense. This July Fourth, let's reaffirm our commitment to integrity and beat the odds that suggest our decline is inevitable. Preserving a nation worthy of its promise can't be relegated only to those wearing a uniform; it is the duty of all Americans who believe that through leading by example, with honesty and accountability, we can truly be free. Finding America in conversations with strangers Alex Chueh, writer, Cambridge Our nation brims with stories about hopeful souls formulating plans that imbue life with purpose; striving, scheming, American dreaming. An American's initial impulse isn't why? , but why not? I learned this firsthand by hatching my own shamelessly ambitious project: meeting someone new every single day. Since Nov. 20, 2022, no day has gone by without me talking to a stranger. America responded with a resounding, hell yeah! Initially I prepared to get blown off. But most Americans I chatted up at coffee shops or city parks lit up with excitement, intuitively connecting with me. Time and again, these spontaneous conversations have gifted me with unforgettable stories and lifelong friendships. Why has it worked? Americans are remarkably open, shockingly willing to unspool their lives to a stranger. (I learn at least one family inside joke a week.) From Iowa cornfields to the Maine coast, rifle clubs to yoga studios, and factory workers to literature PhDs, American openness transcends cultural divides. My journal holds endless scarcely believable examples: Yup, I really did get an impromptu shooting lesson from Appalachian teens eating at a roadside pizza shop. No wonder I've found America a delightful place to meet people, and an even better place to be myself. A plea for a better America Reya Kumar, communications specialist, Boston Every Fourth of July, I write an Instagram post about how I felt about America that year. It's a way to wrestle with my complicated relationship with my American identity. When I think about America, I'm caught between frustration at our failures and an unshakeable hope for what this country has the capacity to be. I grew up saying the Pledge of Allegiance every morning at school, believing deeply in the promise of 'liberty and justice for all.' Even when I'm sorely disappointed in our leaders and systems, I could never imagine leaving. This country is too much a part of who I am, even when it breaks my heart. This Fourth of July feels different. We're celebrating independence from a king while our president But that's exactly why I refuse to write off this country. The most beautiful thing about America is that we have the capacity to change it. From abolishing slavery to winning marriage equality, our history is one of imperfect progress — messy, slow, but real. Being American means holding two truths simultaneously: loving your country enough to demand better from it, and believing that better is possible. Upholding American values: A daily fight against fear Elliot, nurse, Hampshire County My grandparents came here from Latin America with their two young sons and truly lived the American dream. I've heard stories of how my dad earned his pocket money in the garage of his childhood home, helping his dad machine munitions casings for the military when he wasn't working at the factory. Now I worry that my 93-year-old grandmother will be stopped and something about her — her accent, the way she dresses, the color of her skin or hair — will give some power-hungry bureaucrat the excuse to say she doesn't belong. I'm also a transgender nurse, who works in transgender health care. I spend every day reassuring my patients that we are still here, still providing the lifesaving care they need, as long as we possibly can. Then I go home and wonder if I'll still have access to the care I need in 3 months, 6 months, a year. Some days I live in panic that America can't come back from this, at least not an America I can be proud to belong to. Most days I try to make my little pocket of America a place that lives up to its values. That means volunteering for community meals; honking support for the protesters and the picket lines; attending the local civic association meetings, even when they bore me out of my mind; and comforting my partner when It means doing something, doing anything, doing everything I can, to feel like there could be good in this place, despite the evidence. The dream isn't dead Jon Dickinson, tech entrepreneur, Portsmouth, N.H. My first memory was being one of three kids under five, gloriously crammed into an 800-square-foot rental with my parents and a dog. My parents worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. My grandparents and aunt helped raise us, offering laughter, love, and structure. With little time to supervise, my parents gave us independence, as long as we did our chores and followed the rules. Freedom came with responsibility. Strict discipline ensured I respected boundaries. I was expected to be courteous, hold a job, save money, and pay for college. Weeks after graduating college, I moved from Wisconsin to Boston with a suitcase, $375, and full confidence I'd find success. I couch-surfed and slept on floors for a few months. I worked retail by day and was a bouncer at night to make ends meet. When I finally landed a job in tech, I poured everything into the opportunity, became successful, and bought a business. I honor my parents by showing my children the same mettle and passion they showed me. My work has taken me all over the US, where I've made amazing friends and been involved in exciting projects. Some say the American dream is dead. I don't buy it. Too many are distracted by media outrage, virtue signaling, and curated personal narratives. Opportunities exist for everyone but are won only when you hold yourself accountable for your own success. Our country is becoming what immigrants once tried to escape Juan Wulff, student, Needham I grew up in Venezuela missing school because of protests and riots, watching my parents' universities crumble, and hearing constant talk about inflation and the economy. So when I immigrated to the United States at age 8, the latter part of 'Venezuelan American' felt like a new, fresh part of my identity. At school I memorized the Pledge of Allegiance, caught up on American media, and made American friends with my American accent. Later, when my parents were naturalized, I finally felt really American. Since then, I have fulfilled my parents' American dreams and will go to college. Yet I am entering a university fighting for its existence with a federal government that is trying to silence it. I live in an America where my people are hated, disappeared, and separated from their loved ones. I am American in an America I no longer recognize, one that looks like the place from which I escaped. A young first-generation American still hopeful for its opportunities Michael Barbalat, high schooler, Newton My parents and grandparents came to this country from the Soviet Union. When they arrived, they didn't have job guarantees, they didn't have a plan, they didn't even speak much English. But they believed America would give them a chance to start again. And it did. I grew up hearing their stories at the dinner table and, even as a kid, I understood that being here meant being able to speak your mind, choose your own path, and live without fear. For me, being American means having the freedom to think for yourself. It means being able to build your life in a way that feels right to you, without having to follow a predetermined path. It's not always easy, it's not promised, and it's definitely not perfect, but there's something unique and amazing about the idea that in this country your future is, in many ways, up to you. Optimistic that brighter days are ahead Casey Tylek, military veteran and research scientist, Leominster I'm as proud to be an American as I ever was. I carry on the tradition of this country, in being a perpetual optimist, never believing that something can't be done or accomplished. Whether it was in the taverns in the 1700s where independence was born, the Wright brothers believing they could fly, scientists working to put men on the moon, or Martin Luther King Jr. taking on the most powerful government on earth in pursuit of equal rights, this country has always inspired the idea that there are better days ahead, and is full of people working to accomplish that. Whether your beliefs align with the current leaders, or clash with them — America will move forward with constant innovation and tranquility. A mother fears that the worst of our culture has prevailed Sophia Carroll, mother and writer, Concord I was an exchange student to East Germany in 1994, soon after reunification, and people were so excited to meet their first American. My world was free from so much they had endured: widespread censorship, surveillance and arrests, the romanticizing of mindless factory work, economic stagnation, and corrupt officials who took orders from Russia. Layered structures of intimidation protected those with power by keeping regular people silent, stressed out, and poor. Now half of America seems to be naïvely embracing similar treatment from our own government. I wish those who rage against illegal immigrants would ask themselves: Isn't it better to live in a country that people are sneaking into than one they sneak out of? If we continue following Trump down his embarrassing gold-tone escalator, it will be a tragic fate for our once-great nation. People who live surrounded by fear are not free. Conflicted, worried, but still proud Joshua, data technician, Newton I've long held contradictory feelings as an American. There is a great democratic heritage in this country to be proud of: the But hypocrisy, inequality, and ignorance are American, too. We've fallen for demagogues and snake-oil salesmen before. Reconstruction was followed by a century of terror against freedmen; our democracy has been stunted by disenfranchisement; the financial oligarchy has now totally captured the state and is using it to claw back all the working-class gains of the past century. Despite everything, despite feeling some days like America neither wants me, its native son, nor my wife, an immigrant, I'm proud of the America of Tom Paine and Sam Adams, of Frederick Douglass and John Brown, of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, of Eugene Debs and John Reed, of Medgar Evers and Viola Liuzzo, of Editors: Jim Dao, Rebecca Spiess. Digital editor: Rami Abou-Sabe. Audience engagement editor: Karissa Korman. Copy editor: Karen Schlosberg. Podcast: Katelyn Harrop and Shirley Leung.
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Business Standard
07-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Can American pope bring US-style fundraising to fix Vatican finances?
As a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost was often on the lookout for used cars that he could buy cheap and fix up himself for use in parishes around his diocese. With cars that were really broken down, he'd watch YouTube videos to learn how to fix them. That kind of make-do-with-less, fix-it-yourself mentality could serve Pope Leo XIV well as he addresses one of the greatest challenges facing him as pope: The Holy See's chronic, 50 million to 60 million euro ($57-68 million) structural deficit, 1 billion euro ($1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall and declining donations that together pose something of an existential threat to the central government of the 1.4-billion strong Catholic Church. As a Chicago-born math major, canon lawyer and two-time superior of his global Augustinian religious order, the 69-year-old pope presumably can read a balance sheet and make sense of the Vatican's complicated finances, which have long been mired in scandal. Whether he can change the financial culture of the Holy See, consolidate reforms Pope Francis started and convince donors that their money is going to good use is another matter. Leo already has one thing going for him: his American-ness. US donors have long been the economic life support system of the Holy See, financing everything from papal charity projects abroad to restorations of St Peter's Basilica at home. Leo's election as the first American pope has sent a jolt of excitement through US Catholics, some of whom had soured on donating to the Vatican after years of unrelenting stories of mismanagement, corruption and scandal, according to interviews with top Catholic fundraisers, philanthropists and church management experts. I think the election of an American is going to give greater confidence that any money given is going to be cared for by American principles, especially of stewardship and transparency, said the Rev. Roger Landry, director of the Vatican's main missionary fundraising operation in the US, the Pontifical Mission Societies. So there will be great hope that American generosity is first going to be appreciated and then secondly is going to be well handled, he said. That hasn't always been the circumstance, especially lately. Reforms and unfinished business Pope Francis was elected in 2013 on a mandate to reform the Vatican's opaque finances and made progress during his 12-year pontificate, mostly on the regulatory front. With help from the late Australian Cardinal George Pell, Francis created an economy ministry and council made up of clergy and lay experts to supervise Vatican finances, and he wrestled the Italian-dominated bureaucracy into conforming to international accounting and budgetary standards. He authorized a landmark, if deeply problematic, corruption trial over a botched London property investment that convicted a once-powerful Italian cardinal. And he punished the Vatican's Secretariat of State that had allowed the London deal to go through by stripping it of its ability to manage its own assets. But Francis left unfinished business and his overall record, at least according to some in the donor community, is less than positive. Critics cite Pell's frustrated reform efforts and the firing of the Holy See's first-ever auditor general, who says he was ousted because he had uncovered too much financial wrongdoing. Despite imposing years of belt-tightening and hiring freezes, Francis left the Vatican in somewhat dire financial straits: The main stopgap bucket of money that funds budgetary shortfalls, known as the Peter's Pence, is nearly exhausted, officials say. The 1 billion euro (USD1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall that Pell warned about a decade ago remains unaddressed, though Francis had planned reforms. And the structural deficit continues, with the Holy See logging an 83.5 million euro ($95 million) deficit in 2023, according to its latest financial report. As Francis' health worsened, there were signs that his efforts to reform the Vatican's medieval financial culture hadn't really stuck, either. The very same Secretariat of State that Francis had punished for losing tens of millions of euros in the scandalous London property deal somehow ended up heading up a new papal fundraising commission that was announced while Francis was in the hospital. According to its founding charter and statutes, the commission is led by the Secretariat of State's assessor, is composed entirely of Italian Vatican officials with no professional fundraising expertise and has no required external financial oversight. To some Vatican watchers, the commission smacks of the Italian-led Secretariat of State taking advantage of a sick pope to announce a new flow of unchecked donations into its coffers after its 600 million euro ($684 million) sovereign wealth fund was taken away and given to another office to manage as punishment for the London fiasco. There are no Americans on the commission. I think it would be good if there were representatives of Europe and Asia and Africa and the United States on the commission, said Ward Fitzgerald, president of the US-based Papal Foundation. It is made up of wealthy American Catholics that since 1990 has provided over $250 million (219 million euros) in grants and scholarships to the pope's global charitable initiatives. Fitzgerald, who spent his career in real estate private equity, said American donors especially the younger generation expect transparency and accountability from recipients of their money, and know they can find non-Vatican Catholic charities that meet those expectations. We would expect transparency before we would start to solve the problem, he said. That said, Fitzgerald said he hadn't seen any significant let-up in donor willingness to fund the Papal Foundation's project-specific donations during the Francis pontificate. Indeed, US donations to the Vatican overall have remained more or less consistent even as other countries' offerings declined, with US bishops and individual Catholics contributing more than any other country in the two main channels to donate to papal causes. A head for numbers and background fundraising Francis moved Prevost to take over the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2014. Residents and fellow priests say he consistently rallied funds, food and other life-saving goods for the neediest experience that suggests he knows well how to raise money when times are tight and how to spend wisely. He bolstered the local Caritas charity in Chiclayo, with parishes creating food banks that worked with local businesses to distribute donated food, said the Rev. Fidel Purisaca Vigil, a diocesan spokesperson. In 2019, Prevost inaugurated a shelter on the outskirts of Chiclayo, Villa San Vicente de Paul, to house desperate Venezuelan migrants who had fled their country's economic crisis. The migrants remember him still, not only for helping give them and their children shelter, but for bringing live chickens obtained from a donor. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Prevost launched a campaign to raise funds to build two oxygen plants to provide hard-hit residents with life-saving oxygen. In 2023, when massive rains flooded the region, he personally brought food to the flood-struck zone. Within hours of his May 8 election, videos went viral on social media of Prevost, wearing rubber boots and standing in a flooded street, pitching a solidarity campaign, Peru Give a Hand, to raise money for flood victims. The Rev. Jorge Milln, who lived with Prevost and eight other priests for nearly a decade in Chiclayo, said he had a mathematical mentality and knew how to get the job done. Prevost would always be on the lookout for used cars to buy for use around the diocese, Milln said, noting that the bishop often had to drive long distances to reach all of his flock or get to Lima, the capital. Prevost liked to fix them up himself, and if he didn't know what to do, he'd look up solutions on YouTube and very often he'd find them, Milln told The Associated Press. Before going to Peru, Prevost served two terms as prior general, or superior, of the global Augustinian order. While the order's local provinces are financially independent, Prevost was responsible for reviewing their balance sheets and oversaw the budgeting and investment strategy of the order's headquarters in Rome, said the Rev. Franz Klein, the order's Rome-based economist who worked with Prevost. The Augustinian campus sits on prime real estate just outside St. Peter's Square and supplements revenue by renting out its picturesque terrace to media organizations (including the AP) for major Vatican events, including the conclave that elected Leo pope. But even Prevost saw the need for better fundraising, especially to help out poorer provinces. Toward the end of his 12-year term and with his support, a committee proposed creation of a foundation, Augustinians in the World. At the end of 2023, it had 994,000 euros ($1.13 million) in assets and was helping fund self-sustaining projects across Africa, including a centre to rehabilitate former child soldiers in Congo. He has a very good interest and also a very good feeling for numbers, Klein said. I have no worry about the finances of the Vatican in these years because he is very, very clever.
Time of India
07-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Can an American pope apply US-style fundraising and standards to fix troubled Vatican finances?
As a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost was often on the lookout for used cars that he could buy cheap and fix up himself for use in parishes around his diocese. With cars that were really broken down, he'd watch YouTube videos to learn how to fix them. That kind of make-do-with-less, fix-it-yourself mentality could serve Pope Leo XIV well as he addresses one of the greatest challenges facing him as pope: The Holy See's chronic, 50 million to 60 million euro ($57-68 million) structural deficit, 1 billion euro ($1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall and declining donations that together pose something of an existential threat to the central government of the 1.4-billion strong Catholic Church . As a Chicago-born math major, canon lawyer and two-time superior of his global Augustinian religious order, the 69-year-old pope presumably can read a balance sheet and make sense of the Vatican's complicated finances, which have long been mired in scandal. Whether he can change the financial culture of the Holy See, consolidate reforms Pope Francis started and convince donors that their money is going to good use is another matter. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Promoções imperdíveis de voos baratos Voos | Anúncios de Pesquisa Saiba Mais Undo Leo already has one thing going for him: his American-ness. US donors have long been the economic life support system of the Holy See, financing everything from papal charity projects abroad to restorations of St. Peter's Basilica at home. Leo's election as the first American pope has sent a jolt of excitement through US. Catholics, some of whom had soured on donating to the Vatican after years of unrelenting stories of mismanagement, corruption and scandal, according to interviews with top Catholic fundraisers, philanthropists and church management experts. "I think the election of an American is going to give greater confidence that any money given is going to be cared for by American principles, especially of stewardship and transparency," said the Rev. Roger Landry, director of the Vatican's main missionary fundraising operation in the US, the Pontifical Mission Societies. Live Events You Might Also Like: Whoops, waves, tears: Faithful react to Pope Leo's first Sunday blessing in St. Peter's Square "So there will be great hope that American generosity is first going to be appreciated and then secondly is going to be well handled," he said. "That hasn't always been the circumstance, especially lately." Reforms and unfinished business Pope Francis was elected in 2013 on a mandate to reform the Vatican's opaque finances and made progress during his 12-year pontificate, mostly on the regulatory front. With help from the late Australian Cardinal George Pell , Francis created an economy ministry and council made up of clergy and lay experts to supervise Vatican finances, and he wrestled the Italian-dominated bureaucracy into conforming to international accounting and budgetary standards. He authorized a landmark, if deeply problematic, corruption trial over a botched London property investment that convicted a once-powerful Italian cardinal. And he punished the Vatican's Secretariat of State that had allowed the London deal to go through by stripping it of its ability to manage its own assets. But Francis left unfinished business and his overall record, at least according to some in the donor community, is less than positive. Critics cite Pell's frustrated reform efforts and the firing of the Holy See's first-ever auditor general, who says he was ousted because he had uncovered too much financial wrongdoing. You Might Also Like: Pope Leo XIV celebrates first Mass after historic election as Pope Francis' successor Despite imposing years of belt-tightening and hiring freezes, Francis left the Vatican in somewhat dire financial straits: The main stopgap bucket of money that funds budgetary shortfalls, known as the Peter's Pence, is nearly exhausted, officials say. The 1 billion euro ($1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall that Pell warned about a decade ago remains unaddressed, though Francis had planned reforms. And the structural deficit continues, with the Holy See logging an 83.5 million euro ($95 million) deficit in 2023, according to its latest financial report. As Francis' health worsened, there were signs that his efforts to reform the Vatican's medieval financial culture hadn't really stuck, either. The very same Secretariat of State that Francis had punished for losing tens of millions of euros in the scandalous London property deal somehow ended up heading up a new papal fundraising commission that was announced while Francis was in the hospital. According to its founding charter and statutes, the commission is led by the Secretariat of State's assessor, is composed entirely of Italian Vatican officials with no professional fundraising expertise and has no required external financial oversight. To some Vatican watchers, the commission smacks of the Italian-led Secretariat of State taking advantage of a sick pope to announce a new flow of unchecked donations into its coffers after its 600 million euro ($684 million) sovereign wealth fund was taken away and given to another office to manage as punishment for the London fiasco. "There are no Americans on the commission. I think it would be good if there were representatives of Europe and Asia and Africa and the United States on the commission," said Ward Fitzgerald, president of the U.S.-based Papal Foundation . It is made up of wealthy American Catholics that since 1990 has provided over $250 million (219 million euros) in grants and scholarships to the pope's global charitable initiatives. Fitzgerald, who spent his career in real estate private equity, said American donors - especially the younger generation - expect transparency and accountability from recipients of their money, and know they can find non-Vatican Catholic charities that meet those expectations. "We would expect transparency before we would start to solve the problem," he said. That said, Fitzgerald said he hadn't seen any significant let-up in donor willingness to fund the Papal Foundation's project-specific donations during the Francis pontificate. Indeed, U.S. donations to the Vatican overall have remained more or less consistent even as other countries' offerings declined, with U.S. bishops and individual Catholics contributing more than any other country in the two main channels to donate to papal causes. A head for numbers and background fundraising Francis moved Prevost to take over the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2014. Residents and fellow priests say he consistently rallied funds, food and other life-saving goods for the neediest - experience that suggests he knows well how to raise money when times are tight and how to spend wisely. He bolstered the local Caritas charity in Chiclayo, with parishes creating food banks that worked with local businesses to distribute donated food, said the Rev. Fidel Purisaca Vigil, a diocesan spokesperson. In 2019, Prevost inaugurated a shelter on the outskirts of Chiclayo, Villa San Vicente de Paul, to house desperate Venezuelan migrants who had fled their country's economic crisis. The migrants remember him still, not only for helping give them and their children shelter, but for bringing live chickens obtained from a donor. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prevost launched a campaign to raise funds to build two oxygen plants to provide hard-hit residents with life-saving oxygen. In 2023, when massive rains flooded the region, he personally brought food to the flood-struck zone. Within hours of his May 8 election, videos went viral on social media of Prevost, wearing rubber boots and standing in a flooded street, pitching a solidarity campaign, "Peru Give a Hand," to raise money for flood victims. The Rev. Jorge Millan, who lived with Prevost and eight other priests for nearly a decade in Chiclayo, said he had a "mathematical" mentality and knew how to get the job done. Prevost would always be on the lookout for used cars to buy for use around the diocese, Millan said, noting that the bishop often had to drive long distances to reach all of his flock or get to Lima, the capital. Prevost liked to fix them up himself, and if he didn't know what to do, "he'd look up solutions on YouTube and very often he'd find them," Millan told The Associated Press. Before going to Peru, Prevost served two terms as prior general, or superior, of the global Augustinian order. While the order's local provinces are financially independent, Prevost was responsible for reviewing their balance sheets and oversaw the budgeting and investment strategy of the order's headquarters in Rome, said the Rev. Franz Klein, the order's Rome-based economist who worked with Prevost. The Augustinian campus sits on prime real estate just outside St. Peter's Square and supplements revenue by renting out its picturesque terrace to media organizations (including the AP) for major Vatican events, including the conclave that elected Leo pope. But even Prevost saw the need for better fundraising, especially to help out poorer provinces. Toward the end of his 12-year term and with his support, a committee proposed creation of a foundation, Augustinians in the World. At the end of 2023, it had 994,000 euros ($1.13 million) in assets and was helping fund self-sustaining projects across Africa, including a center to rehabilitate former child soldiers in Congo. "He has a very good interest and also a very good feeling for numbers," Klein said. "I have no worry about the finances of the Vatican in these years because he is very, very clever."
07-06-2025
- Business
Can an American pope apply US-style fundraising and standards to fix troubled Vatican finances?
VATICAN CITY -- As a bishop in Peru, Robert Prevost was often on the lookout for used cars that he could buy cheap and fix up himself for use in parishes around his diocese. With cars that were really broken down, he'd watch YouTube videos to learn how to fix them. That kind of make-do-with-less, fix-it-yourself mentality could serve Pope Leo XIV well as he addresses one of the greatest challenges facing him as pope: The Holy See's chronic, 50 million to 60 million euro ($57-68 million) structural deficit, 1 billion euro ($1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall and declining donations that together pose something of an existential threat to the central government of the 1.4-billion strong Catholic Church. As a Chicago-born math major, canon lawyer and two-time superior of his global Augustinian religious order, the 69-year-old pope presumably can read a balance sheet and make sense of the Vatican's complicated finances, which have long been mired in scandal. Whether he can change the financial culture of the Holy See, consolidate reforms Pope Francis started and convince donors that their money is going to good use is another matter. Leo already has one thing going for him: his American-ness. U.S. donors have long been the economic life support system of the Holy See, financing everything from papal charity projects abroad to restorations of St. Peter's Basilica at home. Leo's election as the first American pope has sent a jolt of excitement through U.S. Catholics, some of whom had soured on donating to the Vatican after years of unrelenting stories of mismanagement, corruption and scandal, according to interviews with top Catholic fundraisers, philanthropists and church management experts. 'I think the election of an American is going to give greater confidence that any money given is going to be cared for by American principles, especially of stewardship and transparency,' said the Rev. Roger Landry, director of the Vatican's main missionary fundraising operation in the U.S., the Pontifical Mission Societies. 'So there will be great hope that American generosity is first going to be appreciated and then secondly is going to be well handled,' he said. 'That hasn't always been the circumstance, especially lately.' Pope Francis was elected in 2013 on a mandate to reform the Vatican's opaque finances and made progress during his 12-year pontificate, mostly on the regulatory front. With help from the late Australian Cardinal George Pell, Francis created an economy ministry and council made up of clergy and lay experts to supervise Vatican finances, and he wrestled the Italian-dominated bureaucracy into conforming to international accounting and budgetary standards. He authorized a landmark, if deeply problematic, corruption trial over a botched London property investment that convicted a once-powerful Italian cardinal. And he punished the Vatican's Secretariat of State that had allowed the London deal to go through by stripping it of its ability to manage its own assets. But Francis left unfinished business and his overall record, at least according to some in the donor community, is less than positive. Critics cite Pell's frustrated reform efforts and the firing of the Holy See's first-ever auditor general, who says he was ousted because he had uncovered too much financial wrongdoing. Despite imposing years of belt-tightening and hiring freezes, Francis left the Vatican in somewhat dire financial straits: The main stopgap bucket of money that funds budgetary shortfalls, known as the Peter's Pence, is nearly exhausted, officials say. The 1 billion euro ($1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall that Pell warned about a decade ago remains unaddressed, though Francis had planned reforms. And the structural deficit continues, with the Holy See logging an 83.5 million euro ($95 million) deficit in 2023, according to its latest financial report. As Francis' health worsened, there were signs that his efforts to reform the Vatican's medieval financial culture hadn't really stuck, either. The very same Secretariat of State that Francis had punished for losing tens of millions of euros in the scandalous London property deal somehow ended up heading up a new papal fundraising commission that was announced while Francis was in the hospital. According to its founding charter and statutes, the commission is led by the Secretariat of State's assessor, is composed entirely of Italian Vatican officials with no professional fundraising expertise and has no required external financial oversight. To some Vatican watchers, the commission smacks of the Italian-led Secretariat of State taking advantage of a sick pope to announce a new flow of unchecked donations into its coffers after its 600 million euro ($684 million) sovereign wealth fund was taken away and given to another office to manage as punishment for the London fiasco. 'There are no Americans on the commission. I think it would be good if there were representatives of Europe and Asia and Africa and the United States on the commission,' said Ward Fitzgerald, president of the U.S.-based Papal Foundation. It is made up of wealthy American Catholics that since 1990 has provided over $250 million (219 million euros) in grants and scholarships to the pope's global charitable initiatives. Fitzgerald, who spent his career in real estate private equity, said American donors — especially the younger generation — expect transparency and accountability from recipients of their money, and know they can find non-Vatican Catholic charities that meet those expectations. 'We would expect transparency before we would start to solve the problem,' he said. That said, Fitzgerald said he hadn't seen any significant let-up in donor willingness to fund the Papal Foundation's project-specific donations during the Francis pontificate. Indeed, U.S. donations to the Vatican overall have remained more or less consistent even as other countries' offerings declined, with U.S. bishops and individual Catholics contributing more than any other country in the two main channels to donate to papal causes. Francis moved Prevost to take over the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2014. Residents and fellow priests say he consistently rallied funds, food and other life-saving goods for the neediest — experience that suggests he knows well how to raise money when times are tight and how to spend wisely. He bolstered the local Caritas charity in Chiclayo, with parishes creating food banks that worked with local businesses to distribute donated food, said the Rev. Fidel Purisaca Vigil, a diocesan spokesperson. In 2019, Prevost inaugurated a shelter on the outskirts of Chiclayo, Villa San Vicente de Paul, to house desperate Venezuelan migrants who had fled their country's economic crisis. The migrants remember him still, not only for helping give them and their children shelter, but for bringing live chickens obtained from a donor. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prevost launched a campaign to raise funds to build two oxygen plants to provide hard-hit residents with life-saving oxygen. In 2023, when massive rains flooded the region, he personally brought food to the flood-struck zone. Within hours of his May 8 election, videos went viral on social media of Prevost, wearing rubber boots and standing in a flooded street, pitching a solidarity campaign, 'Peru Give a Hand,' to raise money for flood victims. The Rev. Jorge Millán, who lived with Prevost and eight other priests for nearly a decade in Chiclayo, said he had a 'mathematical' mentality and knew how to get the job done. Prevost would always be on the lookout for used cars to buy for use around the diocese, Millán said, noting that the bishop often had to drive long distances to reach all of his flock or get to Lima, the capital. Prevost liked to fix them up himself, and if he didn't know what to do, 'he'd look up solutions on YouTube and very often he'd find them,' Millán told The Associated Press. Before going to Peru, Prevost served two terms as prior general, or superior, of the global Augustinian order. While the order's local provinces are financially independent, Prevost was responsible for reviewing their balance sheets and oversaw the budgeting and investment strategy of the order's headquarters in Rome, said the Rev. Franz Klein, the order's Rome-based economist who worked with Prevost. The Augustinian campus sits on prime real estate just outside St. Peter's Square and supplements revenue by renting out its picturesque terrace to media organizations (including the AP) for major Vatican events, including the conclave that elected Leo pope. But even Prevost saw the need for better fundraising, especially to help out poorer provinces. Toward the end of his 12-year term and with his support, a committee proposed creation of a foundation, Augustinians in the World. At the end of 2023, it had 994,000 euros ($1.13 million) in assets and was helping fund self-sustaining projects across Africa, including a center to rehabilitate former child soldiers in Congo. 'He has a very good interest and also a very good feeling for numbers,' Klein said. 'I have no worry about the finances of the Vatican in these years because he is very, very clever.' Franklin Briceño contributed from Lima, Peru.
Boston Globe
07-06-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Can an American pope apply US-style fundraising and standards to fix troubled Vatican finances?
Leo already has one thing going for him: his American-ness. U.S. donors have long been the economic life support system of the Holy See, financing everything from papal charity projects abroad to restorations of St. Peter's Basilica at home. Leo's election as the first American pope has sent a jolt of excitement through U.S. Catholics, some of whom had soured on donating to the Vatican after years of unrelenting stories of mismanagement, corruption and scandal, according to interviews with top Catholic fundraisers, philanthropists and church management experts. Advertisement 'I think the election of an American is going to give greater confidence that any money given is going to be cared for by American principles, especially of stewardship and transparency,' said the Rev. Roger Landry, director of the Vatican's main missionary fundraising operation in the U.S., the Pontifical Mission Societies. Advertisement 'So there will be great hope that American generosity is first going to be appreciated and then secondly is going to be well handled,' he said. 'That hasn't always been the circumstance, especially lately.' Reforms and unfinished business Pope Francis was elected in 2013 on a mandate to reform the Vatican's opaque finances and made progress during his 12-year pontificate, mostly on the regulatory front. With help from the late Australian Cardinal George Pell, Francis created an economy ministry and council made up of clergy and lay experts to supervise Vatican finances, and he wrestled the Italian-dominated bureaucracy into conforming to international accounting and budgetary standards. He authorized a landmark, if deeply problematic, corruption trial over a botched London property investment that convicted a once-powerful Italian cardinal. And he punished the Vatican's Secretariat of State that had allowed the London deal to go through by stripping it of its ability to manage its own assets. But Francis left unfinished business and his overall record, at least according to some in the donor community, is less than positive. Critics cite Pell's frustrated reform efforts and the firing of the Holy See's first-ever auditor general, who says he was ousted because he had uncovered too much financial wrongdoing. Despite imposing years of belt-tightening and hiring freezes, Francis left the Vatican in somewhat dire financial straits: The main stopgap bucket of money that funds budgetary shortfalls, known as the Peter's Pence, is nearly exhausted, officials say. The 1 billion euro ($1.14 billion) pension fund shortfall that Pell warned about a decade ago remains unaddressed, though Francis had planned reforms. And the structural deficit continues, with the Holy See logging an 83.5 million euro ($95 million) deficit in 2023, according to its latest financial report. Advertisement As Francis' health worsened, there were signs that his efforts to reform the Vatican's medieval financial culture hadn't really stuck, either. The very same Secretariat of State that Francis had punished for losing tens of millions of euros in the scandalous London property deal somehow ended up heading up a new papal fundraising commission that was announced while Francis was in the hospital. According to its founding charter and statutes, the commission is led by the Secretariat of State's assessor, is composed entirely of Italian Vatican officials with no professional fundraising expertise and has no required external financial oversight. To some Vatican watchers, the commission smacks of the Italian-led Secretariat of State taking advantage of a sick pope to announce a new flow of unchecked donations into its coffers after its 600 million euro ($684 million) sovereign wealth fund was taken away and given to another office to manage as punishment for the London fiasco. 'There are no Americans on the commission. I think it would be good if there were representatives of Europe and Asia and Africa and the United States on the commission,' said Ward Fitzgerald, president of the U.S.-based Papal Foundation. It is made up of wealthy American Catholics that since 1990 has provided over $250 million (219 million euros) in grants and scholarships to the pope's global charitable initiatives. Advertisement Fitzgerald, who spent his career in real estate private equity, said American donors — especially the younger generation — expect transparency and accountability from recipients of their money, and know they can find non-Vatican Catholic charities that meet those expectations. 'We would expect transparency before we would start to solve the problem,' he said. That said, Fitzgerald said he hadn't seen any significant let-up in donor willingness to fund the Papal Foundation's project-specific donations during the Francis pontificate. Indeed, U.S. donations to the Vatican overall have remained more or less consistent even as other countries' offerings declined, with U.S. bishops and individual Catholics contributing more than any other country in the two main channels to donate to papal causes. A head for numbers and background fundraising Francis moved Prevost to take over the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2014. Residents and fellow priests say he consistently rallied funds, food and other life-saving goods for the neediest — experience that suggests he knows well how to raise money when times are tight and how to spend wisely. He bolstered the local Caritas charity in Chiclayo, with parishes creating food banks that worked with local businesses to distribute donated food, said the Rev. Fidel Purisaca Vigil, a diocesan spokesperson. In 2019, Prevost inaugurated a shelter on the outskirts of Chiclayo, Villa San Vicente de Paul, to house desperate Venezuelan migrants who had fled their country's economic crisis. The migrants remember him still, not only for helping give them and their children shelter, but for bringing live chickens obtained from a donor. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prevost launched a campaign to raise funds to build two oxygen plants to provide hard-hit residents with life-saving oxygen. In 2023, when massive rains flooded the region, he personally brought food to the flood-struck zone. Advertisement Within hours of his May 8 election, videos went viral on social media of Prevost, wearing rubber boots and standing in a flooded street, pitching a solidarity campaign, 'Peru Give a Hand,' to raise money for flood victims. The Rev. Jorge Millán, who lived with Prevost and eight other priests for nearly a decade in Chiclayo, said he had a 'mathematical' mentality and knew how to get the job done. Prevost would always be on the lookout for used cars to buy for use around the diocese, Millán said, noting that the bishop often had to drive long distances to reach all of his flock or get to Lima, the capital. Prevost liked to fix them up himself, and if he didn't know what to do, 'he'd look up solutions on YouTube and very often he'd find them,' Millán told The Associated Press. Before going to Peru, Prevost served two terms as prior general, or superior, of the global Augustinian order. While the order's local provinces are financially independent, Prevost was responsible for reviewing their balance sheets and oversaw the budgeting and investment strategy of the order's headquarters in Rome, said the Rev. Franz Klein, the order's Rome-based economist who worked with Prevost. The Augustinian campus sits on prime real estate just outside St. Peter's Square and supplements revenue by renting out its picturesque terrace to media organizations (including the AP) for major Vatican events, including the conclave that elected Leo pope. But even Prevost saw the need for better fundraising, especially to help out poorer provinces. Toward the end of his 12-year term and with his support, a committee proposed creation of a foundation, Augustinians in the World. At the end of 2023, it had 994,000 euros ($1.13 million) in assets and was helping fund self-sustaining projects across Africa, including a center to rehabilitate former child soldiers in Congo. Advertisement 'He has a very good interest and also a very good feeling for numbers,' Klein said. 'I have no worry about the finances of the Vatican in these years because he is very, very clever.'
