When shelter-in-place guidelines closed area churches in March, Dallas Bishop Edward Burns recognized an opportunity to televise the weekly Mass, and The Catholic Foundation agreed to partner with the Catholic Diocese of Dallas as the financial broadcast sponsor of televised Sunday Masses on local television. “When we were asked to shelter in place, we felt it was very important for us all to pray in place,” said Matt Kramer, President and CEO of The Catholic Foundation, reflecting on the spring decision to serve as the broadcast sponsor of the Masses concelebrated by Bishop Burns and Bishop Kelly and aired on Sunday at 11 a.m. on FOX4, then replayed on KDFI, channel 27 or 7 depending upon your video service provider, at noon. In June, The Catholic Foundation extended its sponsorship through the end of September, and included the Spanish language Mass aired on KUVN, Univision channel 23, at 8 a.m.

Last year, Texas artist Kimberley Peterson had a vision. In it, Kimberley visualized she could help remind people through art that they can be both physically present, as well as spiritually present, which is “where the miracles happen.” Taking her vision to heart, her masterpiece has since greeted tens of thousands of visitors at The Catholic Foundation Plaza in the Dallas Arts District as the 2019 winner of the Catholic Foundation Art On The Plaza competition.

Our quarterly Catholic Community Network panel involved a blue-ribbon panel of nonprofit and Catholic school leaders who shared their insights about ways to thrive, not just survive, from lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conversations about illness, death and dying are never easy. Whether death comes suddenly or after prolonged illness, most of us are not comfortable discussing our medical wishes or end-of-life plans with our loved ones. However, being prepared ensures that your final wishes are followed.

To streamline our grant application process, we introduced a new step last year known as a Letter of Intent (LOI) that enables grant seekers the opportunity to share project summaries before submitting a full grant application.

Congratulations to the 28 Dallas-area Catholic churches and schools, plus nonprofit organizations that received $1.18 million in grants from The Catholic Foundation during our virtual spring grant ceremony.

You are invited to a live, virtual discussion on Wednesday, June 3, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. about the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on several Dallas-area non-profits and schools and how their response can spur ideas for new business models, new approaches for interacting with key audiences and new ways of serving the immediate needs of the pandemic era while fulfilling your organization’s core mission. Please register for this free video/audio Catholic Community Network presentation and Q&A session by June 1 to Denise Shaw at dshaw@catholicfoundation.com, or call 972-331-1641. After registering, you’ll receive an email with details about joining the live conversation.

Our donors and staff are rising to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Listen to our CEO Matt Kramer talk with KRLD business analyst David Johnson on the KRLD, 108-AM CEO Spotlight about the millions of dollars being provided to nonprofits thanks to our generous donors.

Join fellow faithful this Mother’s Day at 11 a.m. on FOX4 as Dallas Bishop Edward Burns and Auxillary Bishop Greg Kelly concelebrate Mass from St. Edward Catholic Church just east of downtown Dallas.

With gratitude to Catholic Foundation donors past and present, our team continues to work safely from home, and our efforts have not been deterred. Many of our donors and Foundation friends have risen to the challenges of the day by helping with various projects including food drives, equipment distribution and prayer sessions via videoconferencing.