(April 9, 2009) Thanks to Jesus' resurrection, volunteers can transform society into
"something better," says the president of Caritas Internationalis. Honduran Cardinal
Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, the archbishop of Tegucigalpa said this in an Easter message
to the global federation of aid organizations of the Catholic Church. He told Caritas
member organizations that they should be "an expression and a sacrament of the redeeming
love of God for the whole of humanity." "I saw in a recent report" that "donations
from some of our Caritas organizations have increased, instead of diminishing during
the world economic crisis," explained the archbishop. "This is a sign that the risen
Christ can engender more love than hatred in the world, more concern for one's needy
neighbour than egoism and avarice." "We must firmly believe that we can transform
our society into something better. A better place to live in, a better place to work
in and a better place to praise God," the cardinal continued. The cardinal appealed
to all Caritas collaborators to keep close to their heart "the victims of the earthquake
in L'Aquila, Italy. May their suffering be transformed into the joy of the resurrected
Lord." The president of Caritas concluded: "My prayer for the Caritas community around
the world is that we be an expression and a sacrament of the redeeming love of God
for the whole of humanity."