The value of volunteer work

A new volume on volunteering in Europe was presented at a press conference in the Vatican on Friday. The publication, in six languages, follows on from a conference of Catholic volunteers that took place in the Vatican last November to coincide with the European year of Volunteering, underlining the important role of such gratuitous service to the well being of local and national societies.

Philippa Hitchen attended the press conference at the Pontifical Council 'Cor Unum':

From raising funds for emergency relief to providing practical help for disaster victims, from working with the homeless, disabled or refugees to lending a hand in your local parish… .....in a world where jobs and economic prospects look increasingly insecure, the contribution of volunteers to the fabric of European society plays an increasingly vital role. EU estimates show at least 140 million people are involved in volunteer work, many of them motivated by the values of their Christian faith. Cardinal Robert Sarah is president of the Pontifical Council ‘Cor Unum’ which organised a meeting of European volunteer organisations back in November 2011…

“We insist that the Gospel must be the inspiration for our action and as we know, the Gospel asks us to act generously without asking for any reward…”

Working closely alongside the Pope’s charitable arm ‘Cor Unum’ is the global confederation of Catholic charities, Caritas Internationalis, which also relies heavily on its network of volunteers in countries around the world. Michel Roy is secretary general of Caritas Internationalis…..

“We need professional expertise but we also need a training of the heart and probably this is a characteristic of the Caritas work…”

As well as providing an invaluable service, he says volunteer work is also an important form of evangelisation and interfaith dialogue..

“For me evangelisation is a way of being a Christian with others… and it’s true that among the volunteers there are people of other faiths and no faith at all, but I have discovered that people learn about the basis of each other’s faith so discrimination will decrease and building a more just and brotherly society becomes more possible”

Listen to the full interviews with Cardinal Robert Sarah and with Michel Roy: