PROVIDENCE — Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, on Monday morning, blessed a plaque affixed to the back wall of the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul dedicated to Barbara and her late husbad Ralph Papitto, in honor of their stewardship to the diocese.
Barbara Papitto donated $4.5 million to help complete the restoration of the cathedral’s twin towers last summer.
“In making a gift to the cathedral, you’re not just supporting a building, as wonderful and glorious as this building is, but in supporting the cathedral you are really supporting the work of Christ and the work of his Church, so much of which takes place and emanates from here,” the bishop said before the blessing, which took place in a brief ceremony Monday morning at the back wall of the cathedral, where the plaque has been affixed.
He also thanked Papitto for her generous support of seminarian education and Catholic schools in the diocese.
“Your personal support, your financial support and your spiritual support makes all the difference in the world to us,” Bishop Tobin said.
“The work of the Church relies on good, faithful and generous people like you.”
Papitto said that it was rewarding for her to be able to serve God while also honoring the memory of her late husband, Ralph Papitto, who passed on to her the fortune he had made as a very successful businessman.
“This is wonderful,” Papitto said after the blessing. “First, everything is done for the glory of God. My husband always said that I was going to give his money away to the Church, so I had to do something here. First and foremost, it’s all done for Christ and his Church, which I love so much.”