American donors balk at $25 million Vatican request

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Pope Francis
Photo of Pope Francis courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

A dispute has erupted between wealthy American donors and a Catholic charity over the Vatican’s request for a multimillion-dollar grant, causing unusual friction between church leadership and laity and prompting calls for greater lay oversight of church finances.

The dispute centers on the Papal Foundation, a Bala Cynwyd-based foundation that supports charitable activities designated by the Holy See. Last summer, the Vatican asked it for $25 million to fund the Istituto Dermopatico dell’Immacolata (IDI), a Catholic dermatological hospital in Rome with a history of financial scandals, writes Francis Z. Rocco in The Wall Street Journal.

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James Longon, chairman of the foundation’s audit committee, led the protests against the grant, which he described in a memo to fellow donors as a “disaster for the Papal Foundation. Not only is the decision process flawed, but the recipient has a dubious past.” He subsequently resigned from the board of trustees.

The chairman of the Papal Foundation, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, declined to comment through a spokesman. The Vatican and the IDI hospital didn’t respond to requests for comment. In a statement, the foundation’s vice president for advancement, James Coffey, declined to comment on individual grant requests.

To read the complete story click here.

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