FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Paul Snatchko
(412) 722-2907 (cell / text)
[email protected]

NEW YORK – The Paulist Fathers, in partnership with The Catholic University of America, will receive a $1 million grant to equip clergy and lay pastoral leaders with practical tools to confront polarization in the U.S. Catholic Church over the next five years through The Communion Project.

This partnership is part of a larger $7.1 million grant from Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative that The Catholic University of America’s School of Theology and Religious Studies received to institute a new program called New Wineskins that will strengthen practical leadership skills of current and new priests, seminarians, and other pastoral leaders.

“This initiative allows us to address some of the most pressing issues in leadership for seminarians, men’s religious communities, bishops, and pastoral leaders,” said Susan Timoney, the principal investigator for New Wineskins.

Included as one of the most pressing issues for the US Catholic Church is polarization. The Paulist Fathers identified toxic polarization as a “first order crisis” in 2022 and launched The Communion Project in response to this need. The mission of The Communion Project is to heal the sin of toxic polarization in the US Catholic Church so the Church can be a more joyful witness of the Gospel in our divided country.

The Project draws inspiration from Pope Francis, and Pope Leo XIV, who at his inaugural Papal Mass said: “I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.”

“The Communion Project is not about confronting existential problems but on providing practical support to clergy and lay leaders to address the increasing divisions in our country and Church. As the first men’s religious community founded in the United States of America the Paulists are motivated to meet this moment.” said Fr. René Constanza, C.S.P., President of the Paulist Fathers.

Beginning in 2026, this grant will allow The Communion Project to expand national partnerships, raise awareness of polarization’s impact, create spaces for relationship-building across lines of difference, promote a spirituality of communion, and develop resources for dialogue rooted in Church teachings.

About The Paulist Fathers: Established in 1858, the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle (“the Paulist Fathers”) was the first society of Catholic priests founded in the United States. The society seeks to introduce the Good News of Jesus Christ to people beyond the Church walls, and to accompany Catholics who feel apart from the Church, through missions, media, campus ministries, parishes, downtown centers, the arts, and more.

About The Catholic University of America: The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., is the national university of the Catholic Church and the only higher education institution founded by the U.S. bishops. Established in 1887 as a papally chartered graduate and research center, the University has an R1 research designation, comprises 12 schools and colleges, and 31 research facilities, and is home to more than 5,500 undergraduate and graduate students.

About Lilly Endowment Inc.: Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the roles that people of all faiths and various religious communities play in the United State and around the globe traditions in the United States and across the globe.

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