The funds collected enable John Paul II to continue aiding poor people and needy ecclesial communities.
A statement by the Council of Cardinals for the Study of the Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See, published today, announced the Peter’s Pence figures.
The cardinals’ statement explains that the funds were allocated by the Pope «in particular to ecclesial communities for pastoral needs and to alleviate conditions of extreme poverty and neglect as, for example, the case of famine and natural catastrophes.»
It adds: «Despite the difficult international situation, the generosity of so many people who have wished to share the Holy Father’s human and Christian solidarity has not failed, going to the relief of the sufferings of the most underprivileged.»
