A new Statute for the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel

In a Rescript, Leo XIV approves the new Statute of the John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel, established in 1984 to alleviate the suffering of those living in this region and affected by drought, desertification, and famine.

The Sahel (AFP or licensors)

During an audience with the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, on January 29, 2026, Pope Leo XIV approved the amended Statutes of the “John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel,” aligning its canonical status with the current regulatory framework for Legal Persons instrumental to the Roman Curia and with the regulations on the patrimony of the Apostolic See.

This was announced in a Rescript published on Thursday, February 5, by the Holy See Press Office.

The history of the Foundation

It was the words spoken by John Paul II on May 10, 1980, in Ouagadougou, the capital of Upper Volta—today Burkina Faso—that sparked the initiative leading to the creation of the Foundation for the Sahel, which still bears his name.

Responding to the issues that beset the region that faced a grave lack of water and food, and increasing desertification, the Polish Pope launched a solemn appeal to the entire world to take action, making himself “the voice of those who have no voice: the voice of the innocent who died because they had no water and bread; the voice of fathers and mothers who saw their children die without understanding why.”

The John Paul II Foundation for the Sahel was established, with papal approval of its Statute, on February 22, 1984, so that his appeal could be put into action and be an effective sign of his love for his brothers and sisters on the African continent.

The Statute establishes that the Foundation is an instrumental legal entity of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, governed by canon law and Vatican civil law applicable to juridical persons headquartered in the Vatican.

The legal headquarters of the Foundation is in the Vatican, while its operational headquarters is in Ouagadougou.

The new statute, the result of a long and shared reform process

In a statement, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development expressed satisfaction with the publication of the new Statute and described it as “the result of a long and shared process of institutional reform of the Foundation.”

The appointment in December 2024 of the Pontifical Delegate, Bishop Florent Hassa Koné (Bishop of San, Mali, member of the Foundation9;s Board of Directors) “was made with the aim of accompanying the final stages of this process in constant dialogue with the Holy See,” the statement explains.

The statement highlights how this process was carried out by the Dicastery in collaboration with the Secretariat of State, the Secretariat for the Economy, and the Governorate.

With the new Statute, the statement affirms, “the Foundation becomes even closer to the local church, flexibly accompanying processes towards faster and more sustainable progress and responding in a targeted manner to the many challenges facing the territory.”

Acting in the spirit of integral human promotion

The Foundation includes nine countries from the Sahel region: Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Chad.

“The Foundation9;s main purpose,” the Statute states, “is to promote the training of individuals who dedicate themselves to serving their country and their fellow human beings, without discrimination, in a spirit of integral human promotion and solidarity, in order to combat desertification and its causes, and to provide relief to victims of drought in the countries of the Sahel.”

The Foundation therefore gives priority to the training of local facilitators and experts, as well as to financing projects in the following areas: technical development, socio-healthcare, socio-agriculture, socio-economic, integral development, and the environment.

The Pope makes available to the Foundation the proceeds from collections organized in Churches across the world for the benefit of the Sahel.

The governing bodies of the Foundation are the Board of Directors, the President, the Vice President, the Secretary General, the Auditor, and the Treasurer. In mid-February, the meeting of the Board of Directors will be held in Dakar, Senegal.

Vatican News
Source: vaticannews.va/en