As it meets with Pope Leo XIV, The Papal Foundation announces it has approved over $15 million in grant allocations for 2026, a record in its 38-year history.
Vatican News
The Papal Foundation announced more than $15 million in grant allocations for 2026, supporting over 144 projects in 75 countries and marking a record level of global impact.
Students who receive scholarships from the Papal Foundation—since the program’s inception, a total of 2,700 students have benefited.
In a press statement released on Saturday just ahead of their audience with Pope Leo XIV, The Papal Foundation said the grants will support infrastructure, programming, and humanitarian aid identified by the Vatican, with a focus on communities most in need around the world.
The 2026 grants will assist a wide range of initiatives serving the poor and the Church. These include the construction and renovation of Catholic schools, classrooms, monasteries, orphanages, and medical clinics in numerous countries.
Other projects include a dormitory in Tanzania to help protect girls from early marriage, trafficking, and sexual abuse, and boys from leaving school; a safe school for marginalized tribal children in India; a library and technology center in the Central African Republic; professional IT training for vulnerable women in the Philippines; and a well and water tower in the Republic of Guinea.
Ward Fitzgerald, President of The Papal Foundation Board of Trustees, said the grants are at the heart of the Foundation’s mission.
He described the projects as a sign of “hope,” responding to urgent needs and strengthening Catholic communities in developing nations.
The grants were approved following a review process led by the Foundation’s Grants Committee, chaired by Trustee Dr. Tammy Tenaglia of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
The committee reviewed requests submitted by the Vatican in the Fall of 2025 and recommended 144 grants for approval, with support from the Foundation’s Mission Fund Committee.
The Board of Trustees approved more than $15 million in total allocations, including $12.5 million in current grants and an additional $3 million to be distributed through the Foundation and its affiliates before the end of 2026.
The Foundation also noted continued growth among its Stewards of Saint Peter, with 25 new families joining since the election of Pope Leo XIV.
Its annual pilgrimage to Rome has brought together 56 Steward families.
New members of the Papal Foundation
The pilgrimage, the first since the election of Pope Leo XIV, includes visits to St. Peter’s, the Lateran Palace, the Angelicum, a candlelight rosary at St. Mary Major, and an audience with the Holy Father.
David Savage, Executive Director of The Papal Foundation, said the Foundation’s growth reflects a shared commitment “to serve, to give, and to bring the Church’s mission to life in meaningful ways across the globe.”
Since its founding in 1988, The Papal Foundation has distributed more than $270 million in grants, scholarships, and humanitarian aid to more than 2,700 projects selected by Pope Leo XIV, Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope St. John Paul II.
New members of the Papal Foundation
