What's the news concerning the Saint Joseph Bursary?

Question from Communicantes: Father, could you remind us of the purpose of the Saint Joseph Bursary and tell us how it functions?

Father De Vriendt: Quite willingly. The sole purpose of the Saint Joseph Bursary is to provide financial help to Canadian parents, or residents in Canada who wish to send their children to a Traditional Catholic school, but do not have the means to pay all of the tuition and boarding fees. To achieve this objective, the Saint Joseph Bursary must first of all collect the funds by organising, for example, special collections in our chapels, or by other means of collecting the funds. This essential aspect is handled in Toronto, where the District Superior resides.

The second part of the task consists in gathering the applications from the petitioning families, and then in dividing with fairness the available funds, taking into consideration the tuition and boarding fees demanded by the school and also the financial capability of the families, case by case. We take into account also, to a certain degree, the financial situation of the schools themselves. This somewhat complex task is done here at Winnipeg, at Saint Raphael's Priory.

Question from Communicantes: Is the money from the Bursary sent directly to the families?

Father De Vriendt: No, we send the money directly to the schools, which credit the families' accounts with this amount.

Question from Communicantes: So, the schools as well as the families benefit from the Bursary?

Father De Vriendt: Exactly. For this reason, helping the Saint Joseph Bursary through donations is a work of charity not only towards this or that individual family, but even more towards the common good of our traditional schools and of all the families in Tradition. The donations that we receive thus permit the survival of our traditional schools which, as everyone knows, for the most part do not receive any subsidy at all from the government, and which could not survive without the generosity of numerous benefactors.

Question from Communicantes: Do the allocated funds cover the total cost for the tuition and boarding fees demanded by the schools?

Father De Vriendt: No, never. On the one hand because the available funds do not permit it, but even if such were the case, we would not do it. Because we want to follow the principle by which the parents, though receiving funds for their children, must also do their part, according to their means.

Question from Communicantes: But isn't there, in fact, a danger that some parents would profit from the Bursary to economise, in neglecting to pay that which they could, and which they would pay if they did not receive the funds?

Father De Vriendt: This danger is quite reduced, from the fact that the petitioning families must present a financial report. Before allotting the funds, we evaluate, with each individual family, their capability of paying the school. Furthermore, we remind them insistently of their grave duty to make every effort to pay the difference between the school's requirements and the funds allotted.

Question from Communicantes: Do you give funds for children who attend traditional schools in other countries?

Father De Vriendt: Yes, on the condition, of course, that the family resides in Canada. We give funds to Canadian students of 3 schools in the U.S.A (Saint Mary's Academy, in Kansas; Saint Dominic, a school for girls run by the Dominican Sisters, at Post Falls, Idaho; and Immaculate Conception Academy, a school for boys run by the Society of St. Pius X, at Post Falls, Idaho) as well as one school in France (Cours Saint Dominique, a school for girls run by the Dominican Sisters, at Fanjeaux).

Question from Communicantes: Are some schools favoured, or do you consider them all on an equal footing for allocating the funds?

Father De Vriendt: Yes, in fact we discriminate amongst the different schools. For example, it is normal that the Canadian schools receive more, all things being equal in other respects, than the schools in other countries. Likewise, within Canada, we favour the schools that have the most difficulty to survive.

Question from Communicantes: Could you give us an idea of the total amount that has been distributed this year?

Father De Vriendt: Most willingly. This year 51 children benefited from the Saint Joseph Bursary, and they shared a sum total of $30,000.00 CDN. This makes an average of $588.00 CDN per child. Last year the total amount was $23,000.00 CDN.

Of this, $18,500.00 CDN went this year to our two Canadian schools (Holy Family School at Levis, and Saint John Bosco Academy, at Calgary), and $11,420.00 CDN were allotted to the foreign schools. This last sum may seem high, considering the few students which benefit from it, but we must take into account the fact that the tuition and boarding fees demanded by these foreign schools are much more elevated than those demanded in Canada.

Question from Communicantes: When will the Society of Saint Pius X organise the next special collection for the Saint Joseph Bursary?

Father De Vriendt: During Lent, or a little after Easter, depending on the chapels. Lent is indeed a highly opportune time to give alms.

Our Lord will not forget that which we have done for His little ones, the children, who are so vulnerable and who have the right to the very best of a totally Catholic education.

Moreover, let us remember that the alms that we willingly give will be returned to us in spiritual riches of an infinite and eternal price.

For Your Lenten Alms

Give To The Saint Joseph Bursary

HELP OUR CHILDREN

Help Our Schools

Send all donations to the priory of Toronto (see the page of addresses, p. 31)
indicating on the check: for the Saint Joseph Bursary.

May God bless you and reward you for your generosity!