U.S.-based Cross Catholic Outreach continues support for pope's efforts

By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A Florida-based Catholic relief and development organization has been playing an important part in assisting with Pope Francis' aid efforts for Ukraine, the organization's president said.

Michele Sagarino, president of Cross Catholic Outreach, told Catholic News Service they have helped secure funding, ambulances, prosthetics and supplies for "all the various medical needs when the health system was turned upside down" to those in need in war-torn Ukraine.

Now they are looking at how best to get urgently needed food and nutritional support for Ukrainians who have been internally displaced or fled the country, she said April 26.

Sagarino was part of a Cross Catholic Outreach delegation which included: Jim Cavnar, CEO and founder; Msgr. Ted Bertagni, director of clergy and diocesan relations; Shannon Burns, associate director of clergy and diocesan relations; and Father Bernard Olszewski, outreach and support.

They were in Rome for three days at the end of April to meet with the heads of different Vatican dicasteries, particularly with the Dicastery for the Service of Charity and Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner.

Sagarino said they came to thank the dicasteries and to learn more about the needs in Ukraine.

Cross Catholic Outreach lent its support to the Dicastery for the Service of Charity "right from the very beginning when they decided to really have a big impact there," she said.

"The pope really wanted to provide a lot of aid so we supported ambulances, medical supplies, funding" and other essentials at a time of great need, she said.

Providing cash that gets distributed directly to individuals is a critical "first step in relief" since it takes much longer to get goods into a country and to where they have to go, she said.

Over the past 22 years, Cross Catholic Outreach has received upwards of $3.6 billion worth of donations which has gone to support programs all over the world, Sagarino said. Currently they support more than 226 projects in 36 countries.

The organization knows exactly where the funds are going because all the programs are run by nuns, priests or Catholic lay missionaries on the ground, she said. "It is long term support. We build a relationship with them and know their needs."

"They are the experts. They know what is needed (and) they are the best leaders we ever met," she said. "We believe in going right to the source directly so we can accomplish what they are being called to do just by providing the finances."

A similar approach comes with the organization's faith in action programs, like food packing events or their "Box of Joy" initiative, she said. Parishes, schools, families or individuals can request any number of empty boxes, which are the size of a shoe box, that they then fill with items meant for specific age groups of boys and girls.

Not only do the kids receiving the gifts experience joy, but so do the people who came together to pack the boxes and the children who often write notes that go inside, she said. The boxes also include a story about Jesus in the local language and a rosary to further emphasize a sharing of Christ's love with others.

These kinds of events that bring people together are really needed, Sagarino said.

"What we have found since COVID is that our church is thirsty to get engaged. They are calling us and wanting programs to re-engage the youth and have things to do as a family. So we are blessed to offer this," she said.

Over 500,000 boxes have been collected over the past nine years and have gone to more than nine countries, she added.