Sunday, June 10, 2007

Of Gratitude and Generosity

The Ave Maria Foundation may well be the single most generous contributor to Catholic causes at the close of the 20th and the opening of the 21st Century. According to IRS 990 form, from 1998-2005, the Foundation gave away close to ¼ of a billion dollars, most of it to Catholic education, which has been suffering since the decline of vocations in the wake of rising liberalism in the 60’s and 70’s. A close examination of the data demonstrates that salaries have been quite generous at these institutions. For example, a number of professors at Ave Maria School of Law have recieved annual compensation of over $130,000 since the law school opened in 2000. The whole church in the U.S. has been the beneficiary of this generosity, and, we suggest a spirit of gratitude should be our response. Thank you, Thomas Monaghan.

Over 85 organizations have recieved a portion of the $235,000,000.00 donated by the Ave Maria Foundation through 2005. A partial list is below:

Ave Maria University, Inc.$116,869,641
Ave Maria School of Law$45,314,959
Ave Maria College$22,590,368
Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist$14,140,552
Spiritus Sanctus Academy$6,742,053
Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing Michigan$4,100,000
Thomas More Law Center$4,099,712
Ave Maria University$4,084,665