SCIAF blessed by Pope Francis

SCIAF has been congratulated on 60 years of service to the world’s poor by none other than the Pope himself. 

Pope Francis sent a Papal blessing all the way from Rome to the humanitarian charity, which was founded in Rutherglen back in 1965. Since then, SCIAF has transformed the lives of millions of people in some of the world’s poorest places. 

Pope Francis sent his “prayerful greetings and good wishes” and prays that the “members and supporters will become even more courageous in serving the world’s poor with the same fraternal spirit of care and closeness…as the Good Samaritan.” 

SCIAF’s Chief Executive Lorraine Currie said:

“To receive this Papal Blessing from his Holiness means so much to me, our staff and I’m sure everyone associated with our amazing charity. 

“This is a recognition of the amazing dedication of our staff, our local partners and especially our supporters, not just current but everyone who has worked in our name for the last six decades.” 

We are marking our 60^th anniversary in 2025 with a number of events and campaigns across the year. Alongside calling on supporters to do a “60 for 60” challenge to raise vital cash for the charity, we have recently launched a new campaign calling on world leaders to cancel unjust global debts which trap countries in cycles of poverty.  

Lorraine said:

“Our motto for the 60^th anniversary is ‘A Better World is Possible.’ Thanks to the work of SCIAF, the world is now a better place than it was 60 years ago. There’s a lot more work still to do, but we believe that we can build a world free from poverty and injustice.”