Meeting with Catholic Extension Society’s board on May 18, Pope Leo XIV thanked us for our years-long leadership on the recovery of the Catholic Church in Puerto Rico—an initiative that began with the blessing his of predecessor, Pope Francis.
Since 2017, when Hurricane Maria devastated the island, Catholic Extension Society has been working to rebuild and repair 600 Catholic churches and schools.
Acknowledging our work in the Caribbean, he said,
In a particular way, I would like to commend your work in Cuba and in Puerto Rico. The support you provide to these communities is a beautiful expression of the universality of the Church and living reminder that ‘love for our neighbor is tangible proof of the authenticity of our love for God.'” (Dilexi Te 26)
Hurricane Maria was one of the costliest and deadliest disasters in U.S. history, and the island is still reeling from its effects today.
Just weeks after Hurricane Maria struck in 2017, causing the deaths of 3,000 people and tens of billions of dollars in damages, Pope Francis sent Catholic Extension Society’s chancellor, Cardinal Blase Cupich, to offer solidarity to the Puerto Rican people and explore a plan for how to rebuild the hundreds of damaged Catholic churches and schools. Since that time the Holy See has closely followed and supported this effort.
With encouragement from Pope Francis, Catholic Extension Society worked with the dioceses of Puerto Rico to organize the largest recovery effort in the history of Christianity in the Americas. Through our Puerto Rico Recovery Program, $400 million in federal funds have been approved to repair 600 churches and Catholic schools across the island.
Nearly nine years after Hurricane Maria, Catholic Extension Society remains a steadfast partner to the Catholic Church in Puerto Rico, where about 45% of the island lives below poverty.
In 2020, the island endured another disaster in a string of high-magnitude earthquakes that damaged or collapsed thousands of buildings, including several Catholic churches and schools. This includes Immaculate Conception Church and School in Guayanilla.
Signs of hope
Thankfully, our recovery program has now entered its reconstruction phase.
Two dozen heavily damaged Catholic schools are currently in the architectural design phase, set to conclude later this year, allowing them to begin construction in late 2026 and early 2027.
This is significant not only for the Catholic community but for the entire island, given reports that since Hurricane Maria struck nine years ago, only one public school in Puerto Rico has been repaired so far.
Rebuilding these badly damaged Catholic schools will bring hope not just to Catholic students, but all people of the island. Among the schools set to be rebuilt is Holy Rosary School in Vega Baja, which has been in shambles since 2017.
Construction work in churches is also underway. Approximately 40 Catholic churches began reconstruction in 2025, with dozens more to follow in the summer of 2026. The graphic below shows the active recovery projects across Puerto Rico. What’s more, our program has secured millions in additional resources to ensure that church buildings aren’t just restored but built more resiliently to withstand future disasters.
Included in these rebuilding efforts are mission chapels in the economically poorest communities and neighborhoods of the island, which are a lifeline to the sick, elderly, and vulnerable when disasters strike.
This massive recovery effort, in addition to rebuilding churches and Catholic schools, will also create more than 7,000 jobs during the construction phase—jobs that can be filled primarily by local Puerto Ricans in towns where economic opportunities have been few.
An exceptional on-the-ground team
The Puerto Rican Recovery Program is made possible through Catholic Extension Society’s founding of the Catholic Chief Recovery Office, LLC, a separate 501(c)(3) that we manage, which serves all disaster-damaged dioceses of Puerto Rico. What makes it special is that the office is staffed exclusively by Puerto Rican professionals who are not only highly capable but also close to the challenges their island faces. They lived through the disasters and the economic calamity that followed.
This centralized, inter-diocesan recovery office is filled with staff members who are carefully and competently managing multimillion-dollar projects on behalf of the poorest faith communities in the Catholic Church. The average staff person in this office brings more than 20 years of experience in their respective fields of finance, engineering, fundraising and business.
The CRO will make sure that these projects don’t stall.
How you can help
Thanks to Catholic Extension Society’s work, the Puerto Rican Church is finally realizing its long-awaited dream to rise again from the ruins.
Following our meeting with Pope Leo XIV, Catholic Extension Society is proud of the work we have completed so far, and we are eager to follow through on our commitment to restoring the Catholic Church in Puerto Rico.
Please help us embrace the vision of the Holy Father by supporting our mission to build up vibrant and transformative Catholic faith communities among the poor in the poorest regions of America! Donate today.
Header image photo credit: AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia
