Pope to Hilton Foundation: ‘Church needs religious women to serve the poor’

By Lisa Zengarini

Pope Francis on Wednesday warmly commended the Hilton Foundation for its ongoing work serving the poor and the disadvantaged and their significant contribution to empowering women religious, helping the Church overcome its patriarchal mindset.

Improving the lives of disadvantaged people

Established in 1944 by the famous hotelier Conrad Hilton, the foundation focuses on improving the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people worldwide through grants, partnerships, and advocacy.

The foundation addresses issues such as homelessness, addiction, education, early childhood development, migration, and global health and provides support for communities affected by natural disasters and other crises. 

It also supports the empowerment of Catholic Sisters around the globe, strengthening the impact of women religious through education and other initiatives. Among them is the Sisters Project Initiative promoted in collaboration with Vatican Dicastery for Communication.

"Compassion" is getting close to the suffering of others 

Greeting the Board of the Foundation before his General Audience, the Pope praised their “passionate and compassionate” commitment to promoting the human dignity of those most in need in a world where poverty and exclusion continue to rise.

He compared their work to the Good Samaritan's parable, reminding them that the only acceptable reason to look down on someone is to help them stand up and urging  them  to keep this principle at the heart of their mission.

The Pope also encouraged  the members of the Foundation not to forget the essence of “compassion” as a shared human experience: “Compassion,” he said “ is not throwing a coin into the hands of the other without looking him in the eye, but getting close and suffering with him”.

Empowering  women religious through formation

A significant part of the speech focused on the Foundation's support for women religious, through the formation of younger sisters and the care of the elderly nuns,. a cause deeply valued by Conrad Hilton.  Recalling the Foundation's collaboration with Vatican offices to enhance the professionalism and outreach of nuns, the Pope highlighted the the urgent need for the Church to invest in the education and training of nuns for their vital mission.  

Women  religious are called to serve the poor, not to be be servants

He pointed to the fact that in the past the Church allocated far less resources for the formation of Sisters compared to clergy, based on the false perception of women and nuns as "second-class" citizens. “Yet the need for Sisters to pursue continuing education and training is urgent” as “their work at the borders, in the peripheries and among the poor, requires training and competence, ” the Pope remarked,  commending theFoundation for helping to bring the Church out of this patriarchal and clerical mindset.

Changing the clerical and patriarchal mindset in the Church

At the same time, however, Pope Francis noted tsome progress towards the inclusion of women in decision-making positions including in the Vatican, where several women have been appointed to leadership roles. He recalled among others his recent appointment of a nun as Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life,  and the soon to be appointment of another nun as head of Governatorate of the Vatican City State.

Compassion, closeness and tenderness

Concluding Pope Francis thanked the Hilton Foundation's for its “tireless service"  and  expressed his dream of a world “where the discarded, the excluded, the marginalized can be the agents of much-needed change in society", insisting on the need compassion, closeness, tenderness , the three attributes of God.