Our Foundation’s mission is to provide Catholic priests and seminarians from around the world with a vigorous academic, human, and spiritual formation.

The students our donors support complete their bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degrees at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome and are fully immersed in sacramental daily life in their residences and on campus.

The Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, affectionately known as Santa Croce, began as a dream in the heart of Saint Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei. He dreamed of a place in Rome where priests, religious, and lay people could be formed not only in the rich tradition of the Catholic faith, but also in the art of bringing that faith into the lives of everyday people.

That dream took shape under the leadership of Blessed Álvaro del Portillo, and with the encouragement of Saint John Paul II, opened its doors in 1984. Fourteen years later, Santa Croce was granted the status of a Pontifical University—a recognition of both its academic excellence and its unique mission: to prepare leaders who can speak to the minds and hearts of today’s world.

Here, students don’t learn theology, philosophy, canon law, and church communications for the sake of study alone. They are formed to share the Gospel in ways that touch the lived realities of parishioners, students, families, and communities. They leave Rome ready to serve: in parishes and dioceses, in universities and schools, in the streets and marketplaces of the world.

Our Foundation exists for one reason: to make the life-changing formation offered at Santa Croce in Rome possible for those priests, religious, and lay leaders whose dioceses couldn’t otherwise afford it.