The administration council of the foundation approved the list during its meeting last month in Germany. Cardinal Paul Cordes, president of the Pontifical Commission Cor Unum, attended the meeting, along with prelates from several Latin American countries.
The Populorum Progressio Foundation, established in conjunction with the celebrations for the fifth centenary of the evangelization of the American continent, aims at the advancement of the most marginalized populations in Latin American and Caribbean societies. Much of its work is with indigenous or African-American communities.
Pope John Paul II established the foundation, naming it after Paul VI’s 1967 social encyclical.
Monsignor Segundo Tejado Muñoz of the Pontifical Commission Cor Unum reported that more than $2 million will be used to fund this year’s projects. In addition to 39 in Brazil, there are 35 projects in Colombia, 27 in Peru and 18 in Ecuador.
The majority of the funds come from the Italian episcopal conference’s committee to aid the Third World. The foundation had to reject 10 of the petitions it received.
