As Pope Francis apologizes to Canada's native people for the Catholic Church's role in the forced cultural assimilation and resultant abuse of Indigenous children, he offers a humbling example of efforts towards acknowledging and responding to the intergenerational trauma caused by government-funded Christian schools that separated families and isolated children from their culture. Part of a colonial project of assimilation, Pope Francis recognized these atrocities as “the colonialist mentality (which) disregarded the concrete life of people and imposed certain predetermined cultural models.” He reminds us, as Indigenous communities have long known, that “colonization has not ended; in many places it has been transformed, disguised and concealed.”

This represents a first step in a long process, as true acknowledgement of the indelible harm caused by the Church will need to be accompanied by meaningful action. The wounds of forced separation and abuse continue to mark the lived experiences of Indigenous communities today, a painful truth echoed in the responses of many Indigenous leaders to the Pope’s apology.

Through our work, GHR has learned about the vital importance of family care for a child’s long-term development and overall wellbeing, prompting our efforts to help strengthen families alongside Catholic communities, especially with Catholic Sisters. We know the Church has the potential to be a dynamic force for good in the world, as Pope Francis illuminates, and that it will take the support of a global community to continue the healing process.

While the Pope’s visit cannot erase the trauma of the past, GHR in inspired by Pope Francis’s steps toward reconciliation. The Foundation embraces similar opportunities to model his example and reflect on ourselves, our work, the communities we serve and opportunities for reconciliation from structural and systemic harm along the way.
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Learn more about GHR’s work with the Church and family strengthening here, and the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition’s work for truth, healing, and justice for boarding school survivors and descendants.

An air of optimism marked the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) in San Diego last week, as over 9,000 scientists joined in-person and virtually to share research discoveries, connect with their peers and learn from others. Several presenters highlighted the exciting potential of recent scientific developments, considered almost impossible to conceive of five or ten years ago. Today, the scientific community can completely remove amyloid plaque in the brain as measured by PET scans – the buildup of which is considered a precursor to Alzheimer’s Disease. New blood biomarkers offer greater understanding and ability to detect disease, without the cost and invasiveness of alternative testing procedures. Finally, prevention therapy offers the potential to treat Alzheimer’s patients ten to twenty years before the onset of symptoms.

The Alzheimer’s Association is a valued partner in our shared journey to find a way to prevent Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias. Together, we have provided key philanthropic support to prevention trials in early onset families and in the general population. 
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You can review the news highlights from AAIC and press releases to learn more about the exciting discoveries shared at AAIC 2022.

Through our Children in Families (CIF) initiative, GHR supports Catholic sisters and other key faith actors who lead with love as critical agents of change in care. To prevent children from being separated from their families in the first place, we also learn and collaborate to ensure systems overall are oriented toward family preservation and strengthening. And because alternatives to family care are sometimes necessary, we work alongside partners to ensure care is of high quality and for the shortest possible duration.

Catholic Care for Children (CCC) is a visionary initiative, led by Catholic sisters, to see children growing up in safe, nurturing families. Guided by the biblical mandate to care for the most vulnerable and animated by the principles of Catholic Social Teaching—especially the dignity of each person—CCC teams are reducing the need for institutional care by encouraging and facilitating family- and community-based care for children.

Download the July 2022 edition of AMECEA Magazine here to learn more.

From Commonweal Magazine: 
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"What is the culture of encounter? It’s an idea, rooted in Catholic tradition, articulated by Pope Francis, that’s now active in aspects of the Church ranging from spirituality to diplomacy to interreligious dialogue to culture and the arts. Unlike the idea of synodality, which is abstruse and Church-specific, the idea of a culture of encounter is broadly humanistic and straightforward enough that people of various backgrounds can aspire to it. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the success of the Synod on Synodality set to take place in Rome next year will depend on whether a culture of encounter is present there. Here’s hoping—and praying—that it is."

Read more.

From the Laudato Si' Movement:

For the first time, Pope Francis has published in advance his message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, which is celebrated every September 1. It marks the beginning of the Season of Creation, an ecumenical period that unites Christians to pray and take action for our common home.

​What does the message say? We summarize it in four key points:

• A time to cultivate our ecological conversion

The Pope defines the Season of Creation as “an opportunity to cultivate our ‘ecological conversion’”, recalling this concept encouraged by St. John Paul II as a response to the ‘ecological catastrophe’ announced by St. Paul VI as early as 1970.
In this way, he invites all Christians during this time to “pray once more in the great cathedral of creation, and revel in the “grandiose cosmic choir” made up of countless creatures, all singing the praises of God”. 
People of faith, says the Pope, feel “even more responsible for acting each day in accordance with the summons to conversion.  Nor is that summons simply individual: “the ecological conversion needed to bring about lasting change is also a community conversion”. 

• Sweet song and bitter cry

Listening to creation, Francis mentions that there is a “kind of dissonance”: “On the one hand, we can hear a sweet song in praise of our beloved Creator; on the other, an anguished plea, lamenting our mistreatment of this our common home”.
In this regard, the Executive Director of Laudato Si’ Movement, Tomás Insua, mentioned: “The sweet song of creation is mixed with its bitter cry, as evidenced by the intense heat wave that is experienced in much of the northern hemisphere and that has already killed, only in Spain and Portugal, more than 1000 people or has left 5 million people without water in Monterrey, Mexico”. 
Francis encourages people to stop consumerism, change lifestyles and harmful systems. All scientific reports prove it and the Pope reaffirms it: “We are reaching ‘a breaking point’” and we must act now. “The crisis is no longer a hypothesis of a distant future but a tangible reality that is costing human lives,” added Tomás. 

• A warning message ahead the COPs

Ahead COP 27 on climate (Egypt, November 2022) and COP 15 on biodiversity (Canada, December 2022) Francis recalls in his message the importance of “promoting the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement”, as recently ratified by the Holy See. 
“Each passing moment is an opportunity for everyone, especially world leaders, to reverse the biodiversity and climate crises. Let COP 27 bring forth ambitious commitments to prevent carbon emissions from fossil fuels and support for clean energy transition as well as efficient relief for our brothers and sisters already within the climate crisis. Let COP 15 bring forth a firm commitment to end any more biodiversity collapse”, said Lindlyn Moma, Advocacy Director of the Laudato Si’ Movement.
And to the community of Catholics, the Pope calls them to prayer: “In this Season of Creation, let us pray that COP27 and COP15 may unite the human family to decisively address the double crisis of climate and biodiversity reduction”.

• Four key principles for biodiversity

Francis also uses his message to call on nations to halt the further collapse of the “web of life” – biodiversity – pointing to four principles:

1. Building a clear ethical basis for the transformation we need in order to save biodiversity; 
2. Fight biodiversity loss, support its conservation and recovery, and meet people’s needs in a sustainable way; 
3. Promote global solidarity, taking into account that biodiversity is a global common good that requires a shared commitment; 
4. Put people in vulnerable situations at the center, including those most affected by biodiversity loss, such as indigenous peoples, older people and youth.

Working at the intersection of our Twin Cities Racial Equity initiative and long-term partnerships with Catholic Sisters, GHR is supporting the Nuns & Nones Land Justice Project – a new initiative that expands opportunities for Sisters to reimagine the future of land in their possession in a creative manner, in alignment with their charism and leadership in climate and racial justice.

By resourcing land-based projects like regenerative farms, habitat restoration initiatives, Black food sovereignty collectives, and Indigenous land management, the project works to address the enduring legacies of colonization, privatization, structural inequality, and systemic racism.
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Learn more about the Nuns & Nones Land Justice Project.

From Nature:

"Aisen foresees a future — maybe just a decade or so down the line — in which much of the burden of Alzheimer’s disease might actually be prevented. “We’re heading towards screening people from middle age on with blood tests, and treating those who show amyloid abnormalities with drugs that reduce the generation of amyloid plaques,” he says. “I am optimistic.”

A lot needs to go right for this hopeful view to become reality. Large clinical trials will have to show that these therapies work, and amyloid-clearing drugs will have to be proven to be safe and affordable. After decades of setbacks and failed clinical trials, some dementia researchers prefer to express caution. “The field is taking tremendous risks by engaging in studies that can cost billions of dollars,” says neurologist David Knopman at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

It will take a while for answers to emerge. Some trials of Alzheimer’s disease prevention are just getting started, and some ongoing ones could stretch into the next decade."

Read more. 

The Twin Cities Racial Equity (TCRE) initiative launched in 2020, with leadership and thought partners identifying the racial wealth and opportunity gaps as an entry point to begin exploring our role in advancing racial equity and justice in our hometown of Minneapolis, MN.

Our team (Cassie Bean, Kevin Bennett, Amelia Corl) is prioritizing bold and transformative opportunities that center voice, choice, and agency of those most marginalized in our community.
Senior Program officer and Twin Cities Racial Equity Lead Kevin Bennett shares, “GHR’s work is centering vibrant Black and Indigenous futures. We know that centuries of systemic racism have resulted in the disparities that characterize Minnesota today. We believe that new narratives are possible when we lead with love, partner boldly, and reimagine what is possible.”

The Foundation recently approved grants to the following organizations:
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All Square: $1.05M over 2 years to provide operational support for the launch of The Legal Revolution, the first of its kind, Prison-to-Law pipeline, providing ABA accredited access to legal education and career opportunities for incarcerated individuals.

Center for Economic Inclusion: $1M over 2 years to strengthen operational capacity and deliver capital investments to Black and Indigenous businesses.

Northside Funders Group: $100k over 2 years to contribute to a collective pooled fund for grantmaking to BIPOC organizations in North Minneapolis.

Nuns and Nones: $300k over 2 years in support of the Nuns & Nones Land Justice Project – a new initiative that expands opportunities for Sisters to reimagine the future of land in their possession in a creative manner, in alignment with their charism and leadership in climate and racial justice.

Building on GHR’s rich tradition of innovation and deep relationships, we continue to examine, learn, and explore more ways to be of service to people and their limitless potential for good.

From The Star Tribune: 

"For 73 years, St. Pascal school has operated in St. Paul — now the last remaining Catholic grade school on the East Side, where many used to send their graduates off to high school in crowded yellow buses or in cars with tape decks blasting.

Still, its enrollment has fallen, and there have been worries about St. Pascal's future.

But as of this month, the school has new life — thanks to a consortium of schools tailored to urban families in need. St. Pascal is joining Ascension Catholic Academy, a Minneapolis-based group that has provided centralized leadership and other supports to three other Twin Cities Catholic schools since 2016."

Read more. 

From Pioneer Press: 

"Early in the morning in November 2019, Inna Collier Paske, principal of St. Pascal Regional School, had a vision. “God talked to me at that time. He asked me why I work at St. Pascal, and I said it’s because I want to share my faith,” she said.

Her school’s enrollment was dropping fast, and so was financial support from parishioners.

School officials came up with four pillars for the East Side school to live by: “Believe, Learn, Love and Connect.” Students posted strong test scores, even during the coronavirus pandemic.

And earlier this month, the school was welcomed into a consortium that should secure St. Pascal’s future at a time when many Catholic schools have been forced to close.

The consortium, Ascension Catholic Academy, was created in 2016 with major support from the GHR Foundation, founded by commercial real estate developer Gerald Rauenhorst and his wife, Henrietta. The pair, in life and in death, have applied much of their philanthropy to supporting Catholic education.

The foundation, now run by their daughter, Amy Goldman, sought in 2015 to establish a new model for funding Catholic schools."

Read more.