We are Caritas

"When there is a crisis the first money that disappears is the money for the poor. But to continue to give in a moment such as this, is the real way to practice the faith".

Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, President of Caritas Internationalis pointed out that as Christians we should not be sharing what is left over, but what we have. And even today - especially today - the basis of Caritas's mandate is to excercise a preferential option for the poor, responding with love and action to human suffering in an unjust and unequal world.

On his way back to his native Honduras after having attended the Durban Climate Change Conference, Cardinal Maradiaga this week stopped off at the organisation's headquarters in Rome to touch base, and reveal the organisation's strategic directions for the Caritas confederation up to 2015, a vision that is encapsulated in the logo" One Human Family, Zero Poverty".

At an informal breakfast together with Caritas Secretary General, Michel Roy and Head of the press office, Patrick Nicholson, Cardinal Maradiaga underlined the fact that the Caritas confederation's mission is underpinned by a confident faith identiy as part of the Church, and rooted in Catholic Social Teaching.

Maradiaga illustrated the values that inspire Caritas work and of the four objectives of "One Human Family, Zero Poverty": to reduce the risk and impact of humanitarian crises; to transform unjust systems and structures; to eradicate extreme poverty; and to build organisational competence and global partnership.

Linda Bordoni spoke to Caritas Internationalis Secretary General, Michel Roy, about the identity and make-up of the Caritas confederation, about its role in this moment of global economic crisis, and about its mandate for the next four years…

listen to the interview...