BENEDICT XVI APPRECIATES WORK OF THE PAPAL FOUNDATION

VATICAN CITY, 16 APR 2010 (VIS) - This afternoon, Benedict XVI, who turns 83 today, received members of the Papal Foundation, the United States Catholic agency founded in Philadelphia, USA in 1990 by the now-deceased Cardinal John Krol, which every year finances the needs of the Church in the world. Its current chairman is Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, archbishop emeritus of Philadelphia.

  In his address, the Pope reaffirmed that in every time and place the Church is called to proclaim the message of the "hope" of the Risen One and to "confirm its truth by her practical witness of holiness and charity. The Papal Foundation has advanced this mission in a particular way by supporting a broad spectrum of charities close to the heart of the Successor of Peter."

  "I thank you for your generous efforts," Benedict XVI said, "to offer assistance to our brothers and sisters in developing countries, to provide for the education of the Church's future leaders, and to advance the missionary endeavours of so many dioceses and religious congregations throughout the world."

  The Holy Father concluded, asking that the members of the Papal Foundation "pray for the needs of the universal Church and to implore a renewed outpouring of the Spirit's gifts of holiness, unity, and missionary zeal upon the whole People of God."
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