Mass marks Catholic foundation's 80th year of being 'in service to all God's people'

WILMINGTON, Del. (OSV News) -- More than 100 members of the Delaware-based Raskob family joined parish worshippers at an intimate Wilmington church to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities.

They were joined by two cardinals, three bishops and numerous priests and deacons in celebrating the blessings of the Catholic-centered foundation that has supported the church locally and worldwide since 1945.

Nearly 200 people gathered on a recent Saturday evening for Mass at St. Joseph Church on French Street, in the middle of the city, and as the celebrants entered, a stirring rendition of "every praise" greeted them.

The Diocese of Wilmington Gospel Choir set the tone for the Sept. 20 Mass from the first note, welcoming the local and visiting clerics and churchgoers with "every praise, every praise is to our God. Sing Hallelujah to our God. Glory Hallelujah is due our God. Every praise, every praise is to our God."

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, papal nuncio to the United States, was the main celebrant of the Mass.

"I'm very happy to be with you to celebrate the 80th anniversary with the Raskob family, which has been so generous to so many Catholic institutions," said Cardinal Pierre, Pope Leo XIV's top representative in the United States.

"To every member of the Raskob family, thank you," Cardinal Pierre said in his homily. "Thank you on behalf of Pope Leo XIV. It is not simply the matter of sharing, but putting your skills, love, wisdom to the benefit of others. We have God's presence through the death and the resurrection of Jesus, and each of us has a mission to continue this work."

Members of the foundation are descendants of the founders, John and Helena Raskob. Membership is now in its fifth generation of their family. Some members are the great-great
grandchildren of the founders.

John Raskob was a financial executive and businessman for DuPont and General Motors, and the builder of the Empire State Building. The foundation has a legacy of grantmaking and philanthropic activity in service to the Catholic Church and institutions and organizations identified with it, according to the group's website.

Among the more than a dozen concelebrants were Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi, longtime Vatican diplomat; Bishop William E. Koenig and retired Bishop W. Francis Malooly of Wilmington; retired Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan of Camden, New Jersey; and several priests.

"The Diocese of Wilmington is especially blessed the way John and Helena Raskob cared for the needs of the diocese," Bishop Koenig said at the close of Mass.

The foundation website lists its mission as "to aid the Roman Catholic Church by providing resources in support of organizations, ministries, programs and projects associated with it throughout the world" and its purpose as "to be of service and work for the common good of all God's people, nourishing the seeds that God plants all over the world."