Facts and figures for 2019
In 2019, we received 7,154 applications for aid from all over the world. Thanks to the generosity of our benefactors, we received €106.3 million
in donations and were able to use these and €4.9 million in donations from previous years to finance activities amounting €111.2 million*. The majority of these funds – 80.4% of the donations – went towards mission-related expenses, i.e. concrete project work, information, media
support and prayer activities.
We keep the share of necessary expenditures for administration and fundraising as low as possible at 8.1% and 11.5%, respectively, so that as many resources as possible reach local Christians.
In 2019, we supported a total of 5,230 projects in 139 countries with approximately €75.9 million. With a further €13.5 million, we advocated the needs of disadvantaged and persecuted Christians worldwide by providing information, propagating the faith and advocacy.
Legacies accounted in 2019 for a significant proportion of your ontributions for the support of the Church (€20.1 million, or 18.9% of our income in 2019). Together with our project partners of the suffering Church, we remember these departed benefactors with gratitude.
» Reconstruction, faith formation and emergency assistance in war zones were our project focal points in 2019. «
The projects we support are primarily of a pastoral nature. In 2019, about one-third of the outlays were used for the construction of seminary buildings and the construction and reconstruction of churches and church facilities.
More than a further quarter our project budget was used for training priests and sisters, as well as for the further education of priests and faith formation of the laity.
At just under one-eighth, a considerable portion of our funding was also used for emergency aid, including for numerous victims in crisis areas in the Middle East.
An important constant is also our funding of Mass stipends: in 2019, we awarded €12.1 million in Mass stipends to priests around the world.
Distribution of Bibles, religious books and media
Once again last year Africa (29,6%) and the Middle East (22,1%) were the regions receiving most of our aid, although the focus in the Middle East shifted from Iraq (€5.6 million) to Syria (€7.6 million). After helping rebuild the homes of returning Christians in the region, we began to address the rebuilding of Church infrastructure. Churches and religious houses were repaired and restored – including Al-Tahira Cathedral in Qaraqosh, the largest church in Iraq. In Syria, where the war was still raging during 2019, our aid aimed to ensure the survival of the Christians in the country.
