From 12 to 14 June, in the archdiocese of São Salvador de Bahia (Brazil), the annual meeting of the Managing Board of the Populorum Progressio Foundation for Latin America will be held, entrusted to the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. During the meeting, which will be hosted by the archdiocese of São Salvador de Bahia in Brazil, the members of the board will discuss the funding of projects in favour of the indigenous, mestizo, Afro-American and peasant communities of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The meeting will be attended by the members of the board: Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, as well as president and legal representative of the Foundation; Msgr. Javier Augusto del Rio Alba, archbishop of Arequipa, Peru, chair of the Managing Board; Msgr. Oscar Urbina Ortega, archbishop of Villavicencio, Colombia, vice-president of the Managing Board; Cardinal Chibly Langlois, bishop of Les Cayes, Haiti; Msgr. José Luis Azuaje Ayala, bishop of Barinas, Venezuela, Msgr. Murilo Sebastiao Ramos Krieger, archbishop of São Salvador de Bahia, hosting the event, and Msgr. Segundo Tejado Muñoz, under secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. The meeting will also be attended by: Msgr. Giovanni d’Aniello, apostolic nuncio in Brazil; a delegation, led by Msgr. Leonardo di Mauro, representing the Committee of the Italian Episcopal Conference for Charitable Interventions in favour of the Third World; Msgr. Edmundo Luis Flavio Abastoflor Montero, archbishop of La Paz, Bolivia, outgoing president of the Managing Board.

The work will be coordinated by the new secretary of the Board, Fr. Luis Ferney López Jiménez, who succeeded Dr. Juan Vicente Isaza Ocampo, who has concluded his work after more than twenty years.

The Board will examine around 100 projects to decide on possible financing, made possible, in particular, thanks to the support of the Italian faithful, through the “Otto per Mille” fund of the Italian Episcopal Conference. The projects concern various dimensions of the integral human development of the indigenous, mestizo, Afro-American and peasant communities of Latin America and the Caribbean: production (agro-pastoral, artisanal, commercial); development of micro-businesses; infrastructures (water and sewage systems, energy, multipurpose halls, warehouses, community canteens, health units); finance (micro-credit, community shops); health (health centres and equipment, latrines and pits); education (classrooms, IT equipment, training tools); communication (local radio and television broadcasters and equipment).

It should be recalled that in December 2017, the Foundation celebrated 25 years since its institution: from 1992 to 2017 it has financed 4296 projects, for a total value of about 41 million dollars.

The meeting will also be an opportunity to reflect on the most effective ways to realize the Church’s service of charity to those most in need, as well as to identify the guidelines for work in the coming years.