The CARF Foundation supported 1,960 seminarians and priests from 85 countries in 2025

One of the most notable figures in the 2025 Annual Report is that the CARF Foundation was able to allocate approximately 25 % of its revenue—2,615,974 euros—to the endowment fund, a permanent endowment that reduces the foundation’s reliance on one-time annual donations.

Editorial Staff Omnes-July 1, 2026-Reading time: 2 minutes

The institution, which has operated for 37 years without relying on public subsidies, allocated more than 6.1 million euros to scholarships and financial aid for students at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross and the Ecclesiastical Faculties of the University of Navarra

The CARF Foundation has presented its 2025 Annual Report, a year in which the institution supported 1,960 students from 85 countries, divided between the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (PUSC) in Rome and the Ecclesiastical Faculties of the University of Navarra in Pamplona.

Of the total number of beneficiaries, 1,201 studied in Rome and 759 in Pamplona. To support their education, the Foundation allocated 3,145,765 euros to the Rome campus and 2,183,040 euros to the Pamplona campus, in addition to 794,681 euros in other grants.

A foundation without public funding

The CARF Foundation was established on February 14, 1989, five years after St. John Paul II encouraged Blessed Álvaro del Portillo to found the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. The goal of the new Roman university was to offer an intellectual, human, and spiritual education of the highest quality to seminarians and priests—both diocesan and religious—from anywhere in the world, without allowing a lack of financial resources to be an obstacle. The PUSC thus joined the educational work already being carried out by the Ecclesiastical Faculties of the University of Navarra.

Since its founding, the institution has not received any public subsidies. Its operations are supported by some 5,200 annual donors, whose contributions ensure the project’s independence and continuity.

More than 10 million euros raised in 2025

In 2025, the CARF Foundation received a total of 10,474,834 euros from various funding sources: one-time donations accounted for 42.68 % of revenue; wills and bequests, 23.41 %; income from assets, 20.73 %; and recurring donations, 13.18 %.

One of the most notable figures in the annual report is that the Foundation was able to allocate approximately 25 % of its revenue—2,615,974 euros—to the endowment fund, a permanent endowment that reduces dependence on one-time annual donations and improves the institution’s long-term financial sustainability.

Residences and seminars for students from around the world

The CARF Foundation’s grants provide residential and training opportunities in both Rome and Pamplona. In Rome, the Sedes Sapientiae International Seminary has a capacity for one hundred seminarians and fifteen instructors.

In Pamplona, students at the University of Navarra’s Ecclesiastical Faculties have access to the Bidasoa International Seminary and several residences—including Aralar, Echalar, El Sadar, Los Tilos, Ciudadela, and Albaizar—which provide housing for more than 150 priests and candidates for the priesthood from all over the world.