Caritas structures in the world and in Europe:
Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Europa


Speech by Denis Viénot
Meeting of the Directors of diocesan Caritases of Caritas Poland,
Poznam, 19 May 1999



While in Bangladesh a few months ago, during a visit to a school for the poor set up by Caritas with a management committee of parents of pupils, I was talking to a young girl of 15 or so. I asked her, "How do you think you and your friends can change your lives?" After thinking for a moment, she smiled and went looking for a stick. Handing it to me, she asked me to break it, which I did quite easily. Off she went again and came back this time with a dozen sticks, asking me to break the whole bundle. I couldn't do it. Still smiling, she told me, "That's how we will succeed. Together and united, we will make it and I want to be a nurse".

Charity, Solidarity and Justice, as we try to live them and put them into practice within the Church, are based on familiar texts: the Good Samaritan who becomes the neighbour of the wounded man calling out for help; the Last Judgement in Matthew 25. By answering the appeal, I become the poor man's neighbour. The poor man is today the new incarnation of Christ among us.

The Church has always followed this approach, since the Acts of the Apostles and the creation of diaconie or more recently with Populorum Progressio by Paul VI, who wrote that development concerns "every man and the whole man", which means every aspect of the person - economic, social, cultural and spiritual. More recently still, Pope John Paul II gave us a clear principle of action when he addressed the Cor Unum General Assembly in 1995: "The eradication of poverty will only be carried out effectively when the poor themselves are able to take control of their own destiny, and when they are involved in the creation and implementation of programmes which concern them directly. This is the price for regaining their freedom".

Some time ago, I was discussing the question of charity with Mgr. Alphonso Felippe Gregory, a Brazilian bishop and President of Caritas Internationalis. I had quoted the saying, "Give a hungry man a fish, and you will feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will be able to feed himself all his life". "That's true, answered the bishop, but your phrase is not complete. It's no use a hungry man knowing how to fish if he doesn't have the right to do so or if the factory ships leave him nothing".

Our actions and the actions and programmes of the Caritases therefore have several complementary and vital sources: the Gospel and the mission entrusted to us by Christ; the social teaching of the Church and its concrete works right from the start which make up a common and shared history, an accumulation of practice rich in lessons; the appeal of the poor of our time which we must try to hear and then answer according to our specific abilities and context.

Based on this brief summary of the foundations, and in answer to a request by the President of Caritas Poland, Father Wojciech Lazewski, I would now like to present the structures and activities of Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Europa. In these areas, one must always ensure that the principle of subsidiarity is applied, by first of all dealing with the work done at the grass roots, by the members of the Caritas network.

I - THE NETWORK OF NATIONAL CARITASES

According to article 3 of the constitution of Caritas Internationalis, "The following may become members of Caritas Internationalis (...) : charitable organizations existing in each country, approved by their respective Episcopacies and empowered to represent all the charitable organizations in the country; national organizations empowered by their respective Bishops' Conferences; international organizations accredited by the Holy See. These organizations must be devoted to charitable action aimed at human promotion and development. (...) Each country has one vote only within Caritas Internationalis".

The three criteria are therefore one country, one Bishops' Conference and one charitable action in the modern sense of promotion and development.

Today, there are 134 members, in fact 150 if we include the associated members accepted by the Executive Committee but for which the applications have not yet received official ratification by the General Assembly. These members form a network present in nearly every country in the world and which is really the first private global network. There are a few geographical "gaps" however, the main ones being China, although Caritas Hong Kong works both there and in North Korea, and Afghanistan.

The first Caritas was founded in Germany in 1897, soon followed by others: Poland, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Chile, etc. The first Caritas Internationalis was set up in 1924. World War II and its dramatic consequences in Eastern Europe led to the development of the organization.

In 1950, 14 Caritases founded Caritas Internationalis, encouraged by Cardinal Montini, who was later to become Pope Paul VI. Their numbers would soon increase, first of all with Latin American countries, then Asian and African countries following the wave of independence. Over the last 30 years, Caritases have also been set up as a result of conflicts in Bangladesh in 1970, the Lebanon in 1975 and Iraq in 1991/1992. The major event for Europe occurred in 1989 with the collapse of the Berlin Wall which enabled the rebirth or birth of new Caritases in Central and Eastern Europe. Today, Caritas Europa has a total of 47 members and associate members.

There are a number of important differences between the members of Caritas Internationalis. They all base their actions on the foundations mentioned earlier, but the members are placed in very different contexts. This explains the variety of ways of acting, of experiencing contacts with other religions and States, and of becoming involved in different areas. You are aware of all this from your understanding of both Church and national realities in Europe and in Third World countries. A few examples :

- rich and poor countries: Caritas Italiana receives substantial donations from private individuals. Other equally Catholic countries such as Peru or Mauritius cannot count on this type of support.

This criteria clearly applies with regard to the needs of the poor and their concrete situation: from nearly total poverty in African regions such as Ethiopia or the Sudan, or Asian ones such as Sri Lanka or Nepal, to the situation of relative poverty faced by Catholic Charities, the American Caritas at work in the USA. The point is not that poverty is not serious in fully or partly developed countries, but rather that in comparison, the Caritases are not faced with the same problems.

This criteria also applies in the area of social welfare systems, social policy or unemployment benefits for example.

This is also quite clear at present with regard to the worldwide campaign for cancellation of the debt in 41 heavily indebted poor countries.

- whether or not the countries are Catholic: the Caritases in Poland, Brazil, France, Spain or the Lebanon exist in Catholic societies or in ones where the Catholic religion has a certain influence. This is not the case for Caritases in Bangladesh, Senegal, Pakistan, Tunisia and Chad where Islam is the principal religion, or for Caritases in Japan and India where Asian religions are predominant.

- whether or not the countries used to have a Christian culture: there is nothing in common between the Church/Caritas and State relationship in Germany and its system of public funding on the one hand, and Thailand or Algeria on the other.

- whether or not countries have religious freedom, on the understanding that the situation can change over time in a specific country. Central Europe has experienced this of course, but there are also Caritases which, according to changes in political regimes, are more or less threatened or hampered in their action. This can sometimes be seen in the different approaches of the Church, as in Argentina and Chile a few years ago, and currently in Syria where there is a dictatorial regime. We should mention here the great difficulties faced by Christians in the Middle East and the differing practices of the Caritases there. Should people be helped to leave?

- whether or not countries are "protected" by nature : there is a major natural disaster in Bangladesh nearly every year, and regular periods of famine in Africa. This is not the case in most European countries even if Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Ukraine recently suffered dramatic flooding which led to major involvement by their Caritases.

We could continue with a long list of criteria for drawing up a typology of the Caritases and explaining the variety of situations. Some Caritases run numerous, useful and important social institutions, hospitals, reception centres, accommodation for the disabled and the elderly, schools for social and medical workers, social housing programmes, etc. They run the risk of becoming social businesses. Other Caritases have formed teams of volunteer workers in the field in order to work closely with the poor. They must take care they do not simply serve the poor without involving them in the development of programmes. Other Caritases, mainly in developing countries, are setting up community programmes for the promotion of women, for micro-loans, rural development, etc. They must provide training for coordinators and convince the latter that "the progress of the poor is an opportunity for the moral, cultural and even economic growth of humanity as a whole". (John Paul II, Centesimus Annus, n° 28, 1991).

Some Caritases have very centralized organizations, as in Bangladesh where the programmes are the same everywhere. This is not a criticism however as their aim is genuinely one of promotion. Other Caritases are very decentralized, thus stimulating local creativity, but this can sometimes mean that the national level no longer has any real consistency or fulfils its support role.

Some Caritases are heavily funded by public or social authorities, as in Switzerland, whereas others receive very little, as in France.

Whatever the context may be, the underlying characteristic of our network is the fact that it is made up of people who long for real development and promotion of the poorest and who take action based on the principles of the social teaching of the Church: for example, human dignity, option for the poor, universal use of earthly goods.

Among these reference values, the preferential option for the poor is a criteria which explains that we are not able to do everything. On the basis of evangelical choices, each Caritas team must analyse the situation of people and groups living in its area of action in order to define its favoured targets. Each team, whether local, parish, diocesan, regional, national or international, then draws up its strategies. The national Caritases have the crucial role of coordinating and working with the diocesan Caritases to support this task of analysing and defining priorities. This can be done by providing answers to some simple questions : Who are the poorest ? Does our action really concern the poorest, the most excluded, those who suffer the most from economic, social, cultural and religious situations ?

If we must draw up a typology, it would show only two categories: on the one hand, those who take risks and aim to draw all the consequences of this option which places the poor at the centre of all promotional action by the Church and Caritas, even if in practice, these Caritases have trouble achieving all their aims. On the other hand, those who for various reasons do not take risks, are afraid of becoming involved or of offending, who accept direct or indirect pressure, who on the whole are afraid to live in the spirit of the Jubilee as described in Leviticus, Luke and in John Paul II's proposal for the year 2000, afraid to draw all the practical conclusions.

II - CARITAS INTERNATIONALIS

Our confederation, created in 1950, has aims which are defined in the first article of its constitution: to help its members radiate charity and social justice throughout the world. This means supporting the action of members in particular in their actions for development, coordinating actions for emergency work, studying the causes of poverty and suggesting solutions in keeping with justice and human dignity, and representing members in contacts with international organizations.

Caritas Internationalis has just drawn up a strategic plan of action, the practical terms of which will be put to the vote at the next General Assembly in Rome, in June 1999.

The stated vision explains that Caritas wishes to participate in the construction of a civilization of love, of a world, and I quote, "where people, in particular the poorest, the excluded and the oppressed, can find hope once again and have the possibility of accomplishing their humanity as an integral part of a global community". Caritas is explicitly referring to the social teaching of the Church and stresses the role of witness of the whole network, with its strengths and weaknesses.

In concrete terms, its mission includes: working with members in areas such as coordinating emergency and rehabilitation operations; service to members; training policy; stimulating exchanges; strengthening capacities; international representation, in particular for contacts with specialized United Nations agencies; lobbying work as is currently taking place with other Church bodies on the issue of the debt; developing internal and external communication, strengthening the regions. This last point is important for the implementation of the principle of subsidiarity.

Caritas Internationalis operates in the following way:

- a general assembly is held every four years, with two official representatives of each member organization. The aim is to define the work schedule and budget for the next four years. The assembly approves the accounts of the previous four years and may wish to take administrative and financial measures (in June 1999, for example, a project on the financial transparency of members will be submitted). A President and Treasurer are elected and the elections of the Presidents and representatives to the Executive Committee are ratified for each of the seven regions (Europe, Asia, Oceania, MONA, Africa, North America and Latin America). The election of the Secretary General by the Executive Committee at a special session during the General Assembly is also ratified. The general assembly often has a theme and in June 1999 this will be "Charity and reconciliation".

The general assembly can also be a place for innovation. Twelve years ago, it decided to involve the network in actions for the prevention of Aids. There was much stormy debate but the decision has proved most relevant. Four years ago, the assembly decided to work on the strategic plan, clearly showing the wish of the national Caritases to have international mechanisms for the regions and the confederation at their service.

- an Executive Committee, similar to a board of directors. It is made up of representatives of the regions (e.g. 5 for Europe), with a total of thirty, in addition to the General Secretary and the Treasurer.

This committee usually meets once a year, but may decide to hold an extra meeting if necessary, as has been the case twice in the last four-year period, but not at all in the previous period. The committee closely monitors activities and studies all the current issues during the four-day meeting. It approves the budget and annual accounts presented by the Bureau and Treasurer, appoints the members of the two statutory commissions on finance and legal matters and also the members of certain working groups. The Executive Committee may also take initiatives, as was the case for the "debt" campaign, the new mechanisms for emergency operations and for lobbying actions.

- the Bureau is made up of the President and the seven regional Presidents (who automatically become Vice-Presidents of Caritas Internationalis), the Treasurer, the General Secretary and the ecclesiastical advisor. The last two do not have voting rights however.

The Bureau monitors the daily business of the confederation and the Secretariat in Rome, at three annual meetings, one held in November and the others before and after the May meeting of the Executive Committee.

- the Secretariat, a 23 or 24-person team, is managed by the General Secretary. This number should not change for budgetary reasons as the secretariat's main expenditure, in addition to meeting and travel costs, is the wage bill. It should be noted that most of the Secretariat's budget is funded by membership contributions.

The Secretariat is currently organized as follows:

* an emergency department with 3 staff members,

* four geographical continental services: Africa, Asia and Oceania, Middle Est and North Africa, Latin America,

* an international relations' officer who is also the link person for Europe and North America,

* an internal and external communications' officer, and the Documentation service,

* an accounting and finance department.

The Secretariat's main function is to coordinate all the activities of the confederation, regions and members; to stimulate new ideas and activities; to liaise with the Vatican (Holy See), NGOs and international organizations. The Secretariat also keeps an eye on the members' financial means for example, in order to ensure that there is a certain operational balance between the regions. This is due to the fact that subsidies allocated to the national Caritas structures are negotiated through bilateral contacts and thus represent larger amounts than those allocated to the regions, which is quite normal.

The Secretariat's important role in coordinating the network's emergency and rehabilitation activities should be emphasized. This mission is both historical and one with potential. New methods have been set up: a Commission to monitor major emergencies and also meetings of the continental leaders of "donor" Caritases in order to regularly review aid policy in all fields. The topical example of Kosovo shows the combined efforts of everyone and the effectiveness of coordinating all the actions to provide better service.

We are all aware of the risk of enlarging an international superstructure to the point where it is allowed to grow by force of habit and the laziness of its members. We must be careful to avoid clogging up the administrative process which would gradually lead to reduced efficiency, not to mention the impact on budgets. Whenever possible we apply the principle of subsidiarity, by strengthening the capability of national and regional Caritases. Some members have been entrusted with tasks of general interest such as support for weaker Caritases through liaison agencies: Switzerland supports Serbia, Italy supports Albania, CRS supports Macedonia, England supports the Sudan, Germany supports Nicaragua, Spain supports Honduras, etc. Some dossiers are monitored by a certain member, such as the coordination of Aids-related actions carried out by CAFOD (Caritas of England and Wales); logistics support for international delegates is provided by the Caritas of the country where the organization is based: Ethiopia for the Organization of African Unity, Austria for the UN delegation in Vienna, or in the past, CRS in Geneva for United Nations organizations and France for UNESCO.

III - CARITAS EUROPA

A Europe region exists, as per the application of article 4 of the constitution of Caritas Internationalis: "The member organizations of the different regions come together in Regional Conferences to promote and organize the work in the region...". The internal regulations provide details on the role and aims of the Caritas region.

Each region organizes its system of cooperation "according to the will expressed" by its members, the cultural and ecclesiastical "originalities" and its needs. Each region must therefore organize itself in such a way as to "encourage the accomplishment of the mission" of each of its members. This is an essential point as it shows the solidarity between the Caritases as well as the responsibility of the region towards each member which cannot be left to its own devices. The region monitors the Caritases' response to the social problems in the zone, it is the link with Caritas Internationalis and its orientations, it "cooperates with the regional episcopal authorities and other Church organizations, in order to prepare and carry out regional social pastoral work".

The European region was set up some thirty years ago, as were the other regions. Its areas of action gradually broadened. At the beginning, it was a place for exchanges on a number of activities, with particular focus on young people. Encouraged by the Europe Region, an International Youth Commission was set up with subcommittees in each geographical zone of Caritas Internationalis, and the whole structure was crowned by a gathering of young Caritas members in 1970 in Rome. The region has followed developments in the construction of the current European Union and Council of Europe by organizing a regional conference preceded by a youth seminar, in the Council buildings in Strasbourg. Cooperation gradually developed between its members, but they were only really from Western European Caritases.

The first President was a Spanish layman, followed by two more laymen, the General Secretaries of France and Switzerland. The President for the last 8 years has been Mgr. William Kenney, the assistant bishop of Stockholm (the 4-year mandate for regional presidents can be renewed once). As you are aware, I will be the next President of the European Caritases and the transfer will take place at the next General Assembly, as foreseen by the Caritas Internationalis constitution. Following my election by the Regional Conference in Kaunas in October 1998, I promised to make a priority of visiting the Caritases of Central Europe before taking over the presidency. I am therefore particularly pleased to be with you here today and have recently visited the Caritases in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Croatia.

1989 was a crucial year for Caritas Europa, with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the ensuing rapid growth in the number of new members. It should be noted however that intensive cooperation did already exist between Western European Caritases and certain countries in Eastern and Central Europe - either with Churches or existing Caritases - both when emergencies occurred or as part of long-term actions: earthquakes in Skopje and Armenia, substantial aid to Poland in the 1980s, etc.

Caritas Europa has recently developed a strategic plan, adopted unanimously at Kaunas, and known as "The strategy of Caritas Europa: Taking part in the construction of Europe's future". First of all, an analysis was made of civil and ecclesiastical realities such as social inequality, unemployment, ethnic tension, and migratory movements, and issues such as the individualization, the pluralization and awakening of religious feelings. The plan then explains our strengths and weaknesses: on the one hand, common values and an important and well-known network, and on the other hand, the heterogeneous nature of its members, some of them very new, only a small proportion of Catholics in the member countries, and sometimes insufficient support for the Caritases from the Church. With regard to our regional organization, the analysis mentions the fact that the structured Secretariat only dates from 1992. Its professional skills should therefore be improved, the share of work with Caritas Internationalis should be redefined, and lobbying work presupposes drawing up priorities.

The plan then presents our values, with reference to those explained in the Caritas Internationalis plan and defines "four priority areas of activity :

- the main social disparities between the different European States and the process of European unification;

- growing poverty and social disparities within the different States and the future of social policy;

- the issue of migrations and asylum;

- the widening gap between rich industrialized nations and poor countries in what is known as the Third World, the acceleration of the pauperization process in many of these countries and a development policy capable of fighting the causes of this process".

Seven orientations were then defined :

1. professionalization of the Caritas Europa structures : make decision-making structures clearer and amend the constitution; coordination and qualified staff; external communication; clear definition of the working groups' tasks.

2. promotion of members : training and capacity/institution building. The European Solidarity Fund already allows coordination of aid for the structures and programmes of Central and Eastern European Caritases.

3. strengthening political influence with regard to European institutions : social studies, lobbying work, international delegates to the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, presence at European Union level.

4. clearer definition of work with the confederation : humanitarian and development aid, public relations.

5. improving the representation of Central and Eastern European members in the different institutions, and setting up sub-regional networks: for example, ensuring that the President and Vice-President of Caritas Europa are not from the same sub-region. This has been achieved as your President is the European Vice-President.

6. cooperation with other organizations working in the same spirit, such as CIDSE or ICMC.

7. cooperation with the Council of European Bishops' Conferences.

Caritas Europa will therefore continue its work on the poverty and the exclusion, and on migrations. It will finally become involved in the issue of third world development by linking it to follow-up of emergency situations. It will define communication and lobbying policies, by applying the principle of subsidiarity when sharing tasks with its members: showing respect and support for the local level and answering its questions and needs.

The organization is relatively simple :

- the Regional Conference could be likened to the Parliament: every two years, it meets for a major assembly, with a one-day working session in alternate years. It studies the lines of action and regional operations. It elects the President, Vice-President, members of the Permanent Commission and the General Secretary. It votes the budget and approves the accounts, and fixes the contributions according to a method which takes local realities into account. The same method is used to fix the contributions for Caritas Internationalis.

- the Permanent Commission is like a board of directors. The new commission will be made up of members from England/Wales, Austria, Belgium (on a temporary basis, to be replaced by a Central European country when permitted under Belgian law), France, Luxembourg, Russia and Poland. The current General Secretary is German and takes part in the work of the Commission.

- the Brussels Secretariat is managed by the General Secretary. There are four salaried staff members at present, but numbers will increase with the implementation of the strategic plan to be presented to the Regional Conference in June, prior to the Caritas Internationalis General Assembly in Rome. Within a year, there could be a total of eight staff members, through the creation of the following positions: Social Policy, Migrations, Emergency work/Development and Communication.

New mechanisms are planned for the working groups: the Social Policy, Migrations and Communication groups will be renewed and a system will be set up to monitor international cooperation. All that will have to take in account of the decision to develop lobbying work.

The future stakes are therefore important. The European Caritases, and Caritas Europa which works for them, have already achieved a great deal, in the area of migrations for example. It is vital to continue to develop answers which are adapted to the situation of the poor, by working with them and taking into account the most concrete realities of today's world. We are constantly reminded of this through the social teaching of the Church and by the Popes, including the current one.

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In conclusion, I would like to stress the importance and responsibility of all the diocesan Caritases in Europe: in connection with its Bishop, the diocesan Caritas is where socio-pastoral action is developed, and where Charity is put into practice.

Mgr. Albert Rouet is a former president of the Social Commission of the French Episcopacy and ecclesiastical assistant with CIDSE. As an illustration of the principle of evangelization through actions mentioned in the Epistle according to Saint James and which is characteristic of our Caritas nature, he writes: "In my view, solidarity and charity are neither opposite nor supplementary concepts, nor are they quite the same thing.

Solidarity is quite clear and means humanity working as one and moving ahead, where men can become brothers.

It seems to me that Charity provides a foundation which reminds us that we cannot be brothers unless we have the same Father. It reminds us that we must love as Christ did, to the very end.

Charity prevents solidarity from being satisfied with humanistic solutions in the most superficial sense of the word. It also prevents solidarity from being handed over to the good will of each individual. Today, solidarity must become a requirement. It will only make the transition from benevolence to requirement through strong theological reasoning".

In conclusion to its reflection on the identity of Caritas, the General Assembly of Caritas Spain in October 1997 declared: "The mission is not only a task or an activity. The mission and socio-charitable diaconie is a fundamental question of life and a way of life. (...) Faith is borne out by witness ; Hope becomes credible through witness; Charity is witness".

Denis Viénot