Cross Catholic Outreach Meets Pope Francis on Rome Trip

Cross Catholic Outreach leadership recently visited the Vatican for a series of meetings to discuss our ongoing collaboration with and support of Pope Francis’ charitable concerns. The highlight of our meetings happened when Michele Sagarino, president, presented Pope Francis with a Box of Joy^®!

Delighted to know that poor children in the developing world were receiving gifts from Catholic communities around the United States, the Holy Father blessed the Box of Joy ministry and encouraged Cross Catholic Outreach to continue sharing God’s love with the poor.

Michele was accompanied by CEO and Co-Founder Jim Cavnar and Vice President Father Dave Caron, O.P., to the meet and greet with the Holy Father. The group also met with Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity. Since the formation of the new dicastery in 2022, Cross Catholic Outreach has provided financial support to help Cardinal Krajewski aid war survivors in Ukraine, Poland, Gaza and Syria who are in desperate need of vital supplies.

The collaboration between Cross Catholic Outreach and the Dicastery for the Service of Charity continues our earlier alignment in supporting needs close to the heart of the Holy Father through the Pontifical Council Cor Unum and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

Box of Joy is a registered trademark of Cross Catholic Outreach.

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Father Dave Caron, O.P.

Fr. David G. Caron, O.P., joined Cross Catholic Outreach in 2021. Previously he was the Director of the Office of Evangelization and was the Promoter of the Jubilee Year of Mercy for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. In 2015, he was named a Missionary of Mercy by Pope Francis and continues to serve in that capacity. Fr. Dave previously served as President and Assistant Professor of Liturgical and Sacramental Theology of Aquinas Institute of Theology. A former diocesan priest and parish administrator, he joined the Dominican Order in 2000. In addition to pursuing his passions of preaching, leadership development, evangelization, and liturgy, Fr. Dave has a deep admiration for Pope Francis’ invitation to the whole Church to go to the peripheries and there “accompany” the poor and others by modeling God’s mercy.

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Box of Joy Anniversary

Donations from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures for this project incurred through June 30, 2027, the close of our ministry’s fiscal year. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fully fund the project, the excess funds, if any, will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry.