Third World
Since 1990 as many as 14.529 projects have been carried out thanks to the funds of 8×1000 tax contributions that the Italian Church devolves to developing Countries. As many as 2 272 projects have been adopted in the last four-year-period alone, (2013/2016), totalling 370.432.687,49 Euro. An overview with Fr Leonardo di Mauro, coordinator of the Italian Bishops’ Conference’s Service for Charity in favour of Third World Countries. “Italian citizens devolve these sums to the Italian Church with trust”, he said. “The Church responds to their trust by guaranteeing utmost rigour in the management and use of the funds”
Since 1990 14.529 projects have been implemented with the funds of the 8×1000 tax contributions that the Italian Church devolves to developing Countries. As many as 2 272 projects have been adopted in the last four-year-period alone (2013/2016) totalling 370.432.687,49 Euro – to Countries in Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and in the Middle East. Training and social development programs for schooling of children, adult literacy, prevention and treatment of diseases, agricultural development, advancement of women, programs in support of war refugees. Behind each project there are groups people who represent dioceses, parishes, Caritas and NGOs, who have agreed to dedicate their lives, or a period of their lives, to help the poorest in the peripheries of the world. We contacted Fr Leonardo di Mauro, coordinator of the Italian Bishops’ Conference’s Service for Charity in favour of Third World Countries, to learn more on how a project is conceived and developed. A team of 12 people work in the Office that receives the proposals and allocates the funds.
Fr Leonardo di Mauro, which criteria guides the projects’ selection? First of all we verify the quality of the project, and if the project has been appropriately conceived and presented in terms of content and form. Then we go on to examine the validity of the project’s goals, whether the project benefits the local population and if it was approved by the local bishop or by the Country’s Bishops’ Conference. The next criteria is to establish compliance with the budget. Not all items of expense can be funded. For example, it is not possible to cover management and maintenance costs but only the operating expenses required for the implementation of the project.
Who decides? The final decision is taken by the CEI presidency that signs the funding decree. However, a dedicated Committee is tasked with submitting an opinion to the Presidency. It’s an advisory, specialized Committee of experts who examine the details of the project and submit an opinion on whether it is eligible for funding. However, this stage follows the analysis of the project carried out by the Service I presently coordinate. In the preliminary stage
The project is analysed and studied in detail.
If imperfections are detected, the project is stalled for preliminary assessment and further documents are requested to the applicant bodies. Once the project is considered complete it is sent to the members of the Committee a month before their meeting. Hence every project is accompanied by a fact sheet compiled by the Service and by another fact sheet compiled by the experts of the Committee. The two information sheets are discussed during the Committee’s meeting, which is when the final decision is taken, which is then registered and submitted to the Presidency for the signing of the funding assignment decree.
Who are the members of the Committee? The Committee convenes 6/7 times a year. It is formed by 14 members. The President of the Committee is the bishop of Susa, Msgr. Alfonso Badini Confalonieri. There are 3 ex officio members. These are the head of Charity Interventions for Third World Countries, of Caritas Italy and of Missio Foundation. Three people are members of the national missionary Council, while 8 experts are appointed by the permanent Council, selected among university professors, physicians, engineers, people with experience of cooperation.
Who presents the projects? Those entitled to present projects to our Service are preferentially Bishops’ Conferences and the dioceses of Countries listed by the OECD as Poor Countries, which encompasses low and middle-to-low income Countries. Also Caritas and NGOs are entitled to submit their projects. In these cases, projects require the approval of the local bishops.
Percentagewise, how many projects are approved? We receive almost 1300 projects on an annual basis, of which 700/750 are approved. 589 projects were approved in 2016; 748 in 2015. So it can be said that,
Over 50% are approved.
What happens after the project’s funding is approved? How do you verify the implementation of the project? First of all, if high sums are involved the money is allocated in instalments. Thus project promoters are required to submit a statement of expenditure for each instalment. We cannot authorize the second instalment unless the first one is detailed in the statement of expenditure with annexed accounting documents and pictures. We also make random on-site visits.
As regards the visits, in addition to funding, the project thrives on its own. What do projects entail? First of all, a project involves many people that form part of the applicant bodies,
Missionaries, men and women, and many young people who devote their time to helping the last, the poor, and the peripheries.
Activities range from the simplest things, such as allowing children to go to school or enabling families to have a home, to more challenging issues, such as the fight against human trafficking. Then there are the recipients: it’s always a great joy to verify the impact of these projects on the life of people, communities and families on site. During our latest trip to the Philippines, while visiting a microcredit program, some women told us that thanks to micro-credits they managed to start up small businesses and help their families, thereby improving their quality of life and enabling their children to complete their studies.
While they shared their stories with us they were moved to tears.
Some say that your service is the good façade of the 8×1000 tax devolution. What is your reply to such criticism? If people have this perception it is because they have grown used to interpreting the world, that includes the Church, through the lenses of profit and public image. But I can say on the part of those directly involved in this process that it’s a gesture of great generosity. There are countless needs also in Italy, and the 8×1000 funds are divided on a fair basis, whereby a third is for the sustenance of the clergy, a third goes to religious service, and a third to charity. Of the portion allocated to works of charity, the Italian Church has decided to devolve 10% to Third World Countries, which have sadly grown impoverished as a result of a Western world that exploited them first, then either forgot all about them or continued to exploit them. That is why I prefer to define the sum devolved by the Italian Church as an act of restitution.
As regards whether the Church does for matters of image the truth is not much is said about the projects. In fact we are striving to spread awareness on this reality which has grown year after year, to the point of having become a forest of implemented or ongoing projects.
Are new proposals planned for 2017? An innovative proposal started in 2016 and it is ongoing: in fact, as soon as they are approved, the projects are uploaded on our website www.chiesacattolica.it/sictm for public sharing, with details visible by clicking on a map. It’s a further step we have decided to take to ensure utmost transparency and rigour. We are aware that the 8×1000 funds are public money and thus it is money that Italian citizens entrust to the Italian Church with faith. The Church responds to their trust by ensuring uttermost rigour in the use and management of the funds.
