THE Vatican has announced a July meeting to explore how the Church can reach out to the “peripheries” and fulfil its charitable mission.
The Foundation “Populorum Progressio” for Latin America will hold its annual meeting at the Vatican from July 10-14.
Intended to offer an opportunity for reflection, the meeting will take as a starting point Pope Francis’ directions on the most effective ways to provide the service of charity as a “poor Church for the poor”. It will examine how the Church can fulfil her mission in the human and existential peripheries with particular attention to those most in need.
During the meeting, the members of the managing board, which include senior Vatican officials and archbishops from around the world, will deliberate the financing of projects to assist indigenous, mestizo, African American and peasant populations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Funded by a total of more than $35 million dollars, the foundation, instituted in 1992 by John Paul II, has, so far, completed about 4000 projects. These projects are characterised by a participatory approach involving local communities and are directed at various sectors, such as agriculture and animal husbandry, crafts and cottage industries, infrastructure for drinking water, training and provisions for schools, healthcare, and construction.
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