By Jay Sorgi • Posted April 25, 2025

Every Catholic, and every Catholic organization, feels their own unique sense of emotion and meaning as they mourn the passing of Pope Francis.

One particular foundation in Delaware County, whose mission aims to fund charitable initiatives “that are of particular significance to the Holy Father,” is reflecting on his death in a unique way.

“We felt very close to this particular Holy Father, although we feel close to all of them for different reasons,” said Ward Fitzgerald, the president of the Board of Trustees of the Papal Foundation, based in Chester.

“We’re all saddened by the Holy Father’s death, but we’re joyful in celebration for the life that he lived, for the path that he put us on.”

Pope Francis’ call to bring the compassionate love of Christ to everyone, especially those on the margins of society, set the priorities for the foundation’s work in a particular way.

“He brought on a new era, which his predecessors did in their own right, but his era was an era of reaching out to the marginalized and reaching out to the poor,” said Fitzgerald, who is also the CEO of ExCorde Capital in West Conshohocken.

“His witness as it relates to that particular apostolate of the Church aligned very closely with the Papal Foundation.”

The foundation began in 1988 at the request of St. John Paul II, who wanted to find new funding for the Church’s worldwide efforts for the poor and marginalized. He asked for help from Cardinal John Krol, who was the archbishop of Philadelphia at the time and a friend of the saint. The two shared a special closeness along with their Polish heritage.

“(Cardinal) Krol said he would reach out to some of the charitable and affluent groups of Philadelphia to seed the foundation and then build it,” Fitzgerald said.

The foundation has bestowed more than $250 million in grants to 2,800 beneficiaries around the world, mostly in developing nations. The key to the foundation is that it directs grants   to specific projects as recommended by the pontiff.

“The Holy Father listens to (the) apostolic nuncios in each country,” said Dave Savage, the executive director of the Papal Foundation. “The nuncios will recommend annually three to five different projects, he explained, citing for instance repairs for a Catholic church, school or hospital, or building new facilities such as monasteries or pastoral centers.

“The Vatican Secretary of State with the Holy Father will look at that list, and then cull it, prioritize it,” Savage said.

The foundation, he explained, matches funds to the recommended projects  to be allocated in the coming year.

“This past year it was $10,032,000. This year, we approved 116 requests from the Holy Father,” Savage said.

Those requests became active reflections of the intentional charity Pope Francis called for in a quote prominently located on the foundation website’s front page.

“It is not enough to say we are Christians,” he said. “We must live the faith, not only with our words, but with our actions.”

“The Holy Father led such an impactful and intentional life that was led by his love of Christ, and he led from the heart,” said Fitzgerald.
“He made decisions from the heart, and he made the head and the heart go together. He served the poor and the marginalized, and we have been gifted to see that faith in action.”

Fitzgerald departed Philadelphia on Tuesday for Vatican City to attend the papal funeral Mass on Saturday in St. Peter’s Square.

“It will be very emotional because of the holiness of the man,” Fitzgerald said of his expectations for the funeral Mass. “I think that’s where the Holy Spirit touches our heart: through the holiness of humans that grace our presence on this earth and dedicate themselves, their hearts, their minds, their souls so much to the Lord and to the Church. It creates an aura around them.”

Fitzgerald believes that Pope Francis’  legacy will create a continual spiritual flow of goodness to the work of charity that continues at the foundation.

Each new pope brings a particular charism and intention to the Petrine ministry. Fitzgerald says that when the cardinal electors discern who the Holy Spirit moves them to choose as the new pontiff, the Papal Foundation’s fidelity to the pope will remain.

“We also will be jubilant to welcome the next Holy Father,” said Fitzgerald. “If he takes us deeper down the same path, or if he veers in his own path, we feel confident that the will of the Holy Spirit will guide him and guide our actions.”