1999: "COR UNUM" DISTRIBUTES $29.5 MILLION FOR PAPAL CHARITIES

VATICAN CITY, MAR 8, 2000 (VIS) - Papal charities in 1999 totalled $29.5 million, according to the annual report, released today, of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum," the curial office responsible for organizing, collecting and distributing financial assistance to the needy in the Holy Father's name. As the third and final year of preparation for the Great Jubilee, 1999 had been denominated "The Year of Charity."

The report, entitled "Together with the Pope to Witness to the Love of Christ for Those Who Suffer in Spirit and Body," also underscored that, in 1998, a total of $189.6 million in aid had been given to particular Churches by ecclesial bodies or persons not directly linked with the pontifical council. This amount includes aid money directly given by the Holy Father to bishops from needy dioceses during his meetings with them, by ROACO (acronym for the Meeting of Works of Assistance the Eastern Churches) and by the three Pontifical Missionary Works (Propagation of the Faith, St. Peter Apostle and the Society of the Holy Childhood).

Cor Unum, whose president is Archbishop Paul Cordes, earmarked the following sums for papal charities: $1.2 million for populations struck by calamities and natural disasters; $555,000 to support projects of human and Christian promotion (work for the handicapped, youth formation, support for rural populations, aid to orphans, building chapels, schools and social centers, etc); $20 million for the "100 Projects of the Holy Father," a series of micro-projects which in realty number over 200; over $400,000 from the "Bread for Charity" project, which began in 1998 in Italy, for special projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Sudan; $1.7 million from the "Popolorum Progressio" Foundation to finance 215 micro-projects for indigenous populations of Latin America and $5.5 million given by the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel. These last two foundations operate within the sphere of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum and were founded by Pope John Paul II (Popolorum Progressio in 1992 and the Sahel Foundation in 1984).

The report highlighted the generosity of more well-to-do dioceses towards those in need, and noted that often "twinning" occurs when the dioceses which give and those which receive aid become "sister dioceses."

It also noted that in December 1999 the Pontifical Council produced, in both book form and CD-ROM, the fifth edition of the Catholic Aid Directory. This is a catalogue which lists the names and pertinent information of over 1,100 international or national organizations, associations and institutions which work in the field of charity.

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