NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      LIMA, Peru (CWNews.com) - Although Latin America will hold half of the world's Catholics by 2010, the Church in the region is still unable to generate the financial support to cover her needs. But with the support of a Swiss-based Catholic foundation, some Latin American episcopates are willing to change that.

      "Even though a large number of the population is poor, Catholics in the region are in a condition to at least provide for the Church's needs," Peter Robinson, the New York-born director of the Arguidius Foundation, which has been providing financial assistance to Latin American episcopates since the early 1960's, said this week. Robinson has been touring Latin American countries to promote the creation of local campaigns aimed to generate structures of stewardship.

      The campaign aims to achieve economic autonomy for each bishops' conference in the region with the participation of lay Catholics, preferably local entrepreneurs. Once a consistent stewardship project is designed and a board of directors secures the project's efficiency, the Arguidius Foundation commits itself to provide half the amount needed to launch it.

      So far, the episcopates of Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile have launched their own project sponsored by Arguidius, while Peru and Mexico have advanced the dioceses of Callao and Torreon, respectively, as pilot projects. "Our goal is to promote a new mentality of efficient management and accountability that will maximize material resources, while providing a transparency that would encourage rank and file Catholics to give more," says Robinson. "Besides, we believe that the culture of donation or tithing can only be fostered with the promotion of a spirituality of sharing, because giving to the Church is basically a spiritual responsibility."