Can You Trust Charities? Michele Sagarino on Poverty, Faith, and Accountability
Cross Catholic Outreach president on global poverty, donor skepticism, Catholic social teaching, Vatican partnerships, and what authentic Christian charity really requires
Why do some efforts to help the poor fail while others transform lives? Can charitable giving be trusted in an age of growing skepticism toward institutions? And does donating to a relief organization fulfill Christ’s command to love our neighbor—or merely outsource it?
Michele Sagarino is well-qualified to answer these questions. As President of Cross Catholic Outreach, one of the largest Catholic relief organizations in the United States, she has traveled extensively through some of the world’s poorest communities, working alongside missionaries, bishops, religious sisters, and local Church leaders to address both material and spiritual poverty.
In this conversation, we discuss:
The experience in Jamaica that transformed Michele Sagarino’s understanding of aid
The role of subsidiarity and solidarity in addressing poverty
How faith-based organizations differ from secular approaches to development
The relationship between charity, human dignity, and spiritual flourishing
This is a conversation about charitable giving, Catholic social teaching, institutional trust and the practical meaning of loving one’s neighbor in the modern world.