Statement from the Diocese Concerning the Pawtucket Soup Kitchen

The Diocese of Providence and the Saint Raphael Academy administration are aware of largely inaccurate accounts and reporting circulating about the soup kitchen at Saint Joseph Church, part of Holy Family Parish, in Pawtucket.

The Diocese of Providence and Saint Raphael Academy have always strongly supported the work of the Pawtucket Soup Kitchen and suggestions to the contrary or accusations of a disregard for the needs of the poor in our communities are entirely baseless. Saint Raphael Academy students and staff have given thousands of hours of community service to the Pawtucket Soup Kitchen, and students, faculty and alumni have donated thousands of pounds of food—as recently as last week—to assist those in need.

Additionally, the diocese has donated just under $100,000 in grants and direct support to the Pawtucket Soup Kitchen over the past ten years alone, and operates more than 35 diocesan and parish-based soup kitchens and food pantries across Rhode Island along with dozens of other robust and wide-reaching charitable ministries which provide millions of dollars in assistance every year to our state’s most in need. The Catholic Church in Rhode Island is the largest collective source of charitable assistance and aid in this state after the government itself.

Caring for the material and spiritual needs of people in need are core tenets of Catholic social teaching. Saint Raphael Academy and the Diocese plan to continue working with the soup kitchen’s board of directors as part of our unceasing commitment to meet the material and spiritual needs of everyone in need, in Pawtucket and across the State of Rhode Island.

In Peace,

Dan Richard
Head of School
Saint Raphael Academy