Vatican foundation for Latin America to consider 230 projects

(July 20,2010) A Vatican Foundation for Latin America is to consider 230 projects
to improve the conditions of the poor. With this in view, the administrative council of the Populorum Progressio Foundation began on Tuesday, a three day meeting in the Dominican Republic, to discuss the proposals for funding development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. The foundation, established by late Pope John Paul II in 1992, funnels donations to support initiatives undertaken to help poor communities.
Headed by Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, the president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the foundation is named after Pope Paul VI’s 1967 encyclical on the development of peoples. That encyclical was lauded by Pope Benedict XVI, and reflected upon in his 2009 encyclical “Caritas in Veritate.” On Wednesday, (July 22), Cardinal Cordes will travel to Haiti, where he will present a gift of $250,000 in Pope Benedict’s name for the rebuilding of a Catholic school.