As various representatives, directors and Bishop-directors of Caritas around the world prepare to come for the 20th Caritas Internationalis General Assembly, Michelle Hough of Caritas Internationalis Rome, Monday briefed Vatican Radio staff on the pending assembly.
Hough, who is from the Rome-based Caritas Internationalis’ press office, told Vatican Radio staff that, the Assembly will work towards coming up with a strategic framework that will anchor the work of Caritas for the next four years. The theme of the General Assembly is, “One Human Family, Caring for Creation.”
“Caritas organisations all over the world will be aiming at coming up with a strategic plan that can galvanize the world to protect both people and our planet from the impact of climate change, rising inequality and a ‘globalisation of indifference,’” she said.
Hough also told Vatican Radio that the Caritas family in preparing for the General assembly has kept at the back of its mind the fact that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are coming to an end this year, 2015. Caritas also wishes by its work, to support the much awaited encyclical on environment that Pope Francis will issue, this summer.
The Caritas Internationalis General Assembly is expected to host representatives from approximately 160 countries. It is scheduled to take place from 12 May to 17 May. The event will be held at the Domus Mariae and Domus Pacis Torre Rossa Park hotel in Rome.
According to Hough, “On Tuesday evening 12 May, delegates will attend Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica,” she said.
Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga who will preside at the Assembly is stepping down as Caritas Internationalis President. This means the General Assembly will also elect a new President.
Caritas Internationalis has invited guest speakers who include the famous Liberation theologian, Fr Gustavo Gutierrez of Lima in Peru. Other speakers invited are Jeffrey Sachs, an internationally acclaimed economic development expert and Special Advisor to UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon on the Millennium Development Goals. Beverley Haddad, an Associate Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa will also speak, as a guest.
After the General Assembly, Caritas delegates will head to Milan for the EXPO 2015 that opened last week. The delegates will participate in the official EXPO Caritas Day on 19 May. This is part of Caritas’ “One Human Family, Food for All” campaign which aims to end hunger by 2025.
Caritas Internationalis describes itself as the official humanitarian and development organisation of the Catholic Church. It’s a confederation of national Catholic aid and development organisations. Member organisations come together every four years for the General Assembly, the highest governing body of the confederation.
(Fr. Paul Samasumo)
e-mail: engafrica@vatiradio.va
(from Vatican Radio)…
“Continue to be models
and prophets” with the mission of “reconciling hearts, drawing divided
communities together and building renewed fraternity anchored in forgiveness
and solidarity”. Pope Francis called the bishops of the Republic of the Congo to this on Monday
morning, 4 May. The bishops were visiting the Vatican for their ‘ad limina
visit’. Recalling “the wounds caused by the serious crisis” which struck the
country in the late 1990s, the Pontiff called the prelates to manifest
ecclesial communion in concrete ways. “It’s important”, he said, “that you can,
with one voice, use strong words inspired by the Gospel to guide and enlighten
your fellow citizens in every aspect of community life, in difficult moments
for the nation or when the circumstances require it”. And in that respect, the
Pope noted that the episcopate’s efforts in view of an ever greater plan, must continue “so that unity in diversity is one
of the central characteristics and together with the needs of the Church”. This cohesion, he noted, “not only will allow
you always to defend the common good and also the good of the Church in any
circumstance, but will also support your efforts in working with the many
pastoral challenges”, including the proliferation of sects, the Pope note. …
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a message to the President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi on the occasion of a celebration held at the Italian Senate on Monday morning marking the 750th anniversary of the birth of the poet Dante Alighieri.
Listen to this report by Lydia O’Kane
In the message, the Pope began by saying that he joined “the chorus of those who believe Dante Alighieri is an artist of the highest universal value, who still has much to say and to give, through his immortal works, to all those who are willing to walk the path of true knowledge”.
He said that a number of his predecessors including Blessed Paul VI , Pope Saint John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI had referred to Dante in Papal documents.
The Holy Father added that he himself in his first encyclical Lumen Fidei, chose to tap into the immense wealth of images, symbols, values contained in Dante’s works.
On the eve of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, the Pope said it was his hope that the celebrations of the 750th anniversary of Dante’s birth, like those in preparation for the VII centenary of His death in 2021, could again make Dante’s work understood and valued.
Through his writings, Dante, concluded Pope Francis, is a man who invites us to regain the path of our human journey and the hope to once again see the bright horizon where shines the full dignity of the human person.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Catholic-Lutheran dialogue was under the spotlight in the Vatican on Monday as Pope Francis met with the head of the Church of Sweden and Archbishop of Uppsala Antje Jackelén. Originally from Germany, Archbishop Jackelén is Sweden’s first foreign-born archbishop since the 12th century and the first female head of the Church there. Philippa…
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As various representatives, directors and Bishop-directors of Caritas around the world prepare to come for the 20th Caritas Internationalis General Assembly, Michelle Hough of Caritas Internationalis Rome, Monday briefed Vatican Radio staff on the pending assembly. Hough, who is from the Rome-based Caritas Internationalis’ press office, told Vatican Radio staff that, the Assembly will work…
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