In his 2008 Letter to the Dioceses on the urgent task of educating, Pope Benedict XVI stated that today there is an “educational emergency” and that each and everyone of us, as Christians, is called to recognize “the responsibility which we share as citizens in the same city and of one nation, as members of the human family and, if we are believers, as children of the one God and members of the Church.”

In the Catholic Church, “to instruct the ignorant” is the first of the seven spiritual works of mercy, whose aim is to relieve spiritual suffering. In this
case, we are referring to the suffering that comes from a lack of education, formation, and knowledge of the truth, all of which should be granted to every human being.

Even in education, unfortunately, there are obvious disparities in the world. As a matter of fact, if it is true that 90% of all bishops have received advanced formation at one of the few pontifical universities in Rome, the reality is that many bishops, especially of poor or persecuted countries, simply do not have the resources to offer their future diocesan leaders the same formation without the generous aid of Catholics around the world. These years of formation are fundamental in every priest's vocational call, as they prepare him for all future apostolates, in serving God, and His people wherever the Lord calls them. 

The Pontifical University of the Holy Cross Foundation, with your support, offers these bishops a chance to send their future diocesan leaders to receive a robust intellectual and spiritual formation that is accompanied by a daily sacramental life. As stated by Pope Benedict XVI at the conclusion of his aforementioned letter to the Diocese of Rome, "Society is not an abstraction. The contribution of each one of us, of each person, family, or social group, is necessary if society is to become a more favorable context for education."

That’s what we do! We ensure as many priests and seminarians as we can the best education possible, in prayer and fidelity to the Magisterium. Many of these men will be the next generation of rectors, spiritual directors, judicial vicars, vicar generals, bishops, cardinals, and even one day, perhaps popes.