Catholic Charities: Cafod - Essay Example

Catholic Charities – Cafod Introduction According to the Cafod report and the Bishop of Hallam , its chair We act before a crisis by working with communities to reduce the risks of disaster. We act quickly during an emergency to help those in urgent need. And equally importantly, we continue to act for the long haul. Cafod is a major Catholic charity (The Catholic Overseas Development Agency). It is the officially church endorsed Catholic charity in the United Kingdom. It had its beginnings in 1960 when members of the National Board of Catholic Women decided to organize a Family Fast Day. Two years later the organization was officially launched as a Catholic charity. There has been massive development since those early days - the aims being to alleviate poverty and to bring justice. It is interesting that in an organization which in those days was perhaps even more an hierarchically male dominated church than it is today, it took women, seeking an effective role in the church, to come up with this idea. A few years later 1969 Pope Paul VI spoke out on the topic of poverty:- If the church has any preference at all, it is for the poor, for the education of little ones and of the people, for the care of the suffering and the abandoned. Such acts of charity had always gone of course, based upon passages such as Matthew 25 v 40 ‘ I tell you the truth , whatever you did for the least of these my brothers of mine, you did for me.’ In Pope Paul’s encyclical of 1967 ‘Populorum Progressio’ was circulated , its topic being the development of people. In 1971 2 further Vatican documents reinforced the need for intervention – ‘A Call to Action’ and ‘Justice in the World.’ The former encouraged grass roots action and the latter was concerned with environmentalism and civic participation. The organization claims to be inspired by scripture and Catholic social teaching, the ethical framework used by the Catholic church to analyses ‘the economic, social and political realities of the world’ we live in but also by ‘The experiences and hopes of people living in poverty’ putting faith into action, regardless of the creed of those being helped. Organizational Structure Run at its head by a board of trustees, Cafod does not work alone, but in association with more than 500 partners, including groups from other churches such as the Salvation Army, in 40 countries right round the globe in order. It also works with the support of many ordinary Catholics in that annual collections are taken in parish churches, but also, through ordinary people who became partners. There are paid employees, both in the United Kingdom and overseas, but also many volunteers. These operate in the first instance through diocesan Cafod offices. The work varies considerably – perhaps simply promoting giving to Cafod in a school or college, organizing sponsored events and educating the people. It could be for instance showing a film such as the Sudan Peace video , encouraging people to pray about it, and then consider how they could act. Being a Catholic charity it has some characteristics which make it distinctive. It follows Catholic social teaching which members look upon as authoritative, whether depending upon global statements made by the papacy , or by synods or national conferences of bishops. These are considered to require a response from the wider Catholic community as they put their faith into positive action. . Although based upon unchanging principles , the seeking of justice for all for example. Cafod also allows itself to be affected in its decisions and actions by new ideas about such things as human rights, as set out for instance in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, (1948) as produced by the United Nations. It also responds to the changing world - new as well as long standing social , economic and political actualities,. . Operations This includes such simple things as encouraging parishes and individual parishioners to use and promote Fair Trade goods. People can become a member of parliament correspondant – basically keeping their member of parliament informed about Cafod activities, campaigns and injustices that the organization is aware of. Catholics are also encouraged to leave legacies to the organization. Cafod personnel contribute to important reports which are produced, and which may and should lead to action on the part of governments, and even international organizations, such as that on Aids in Africa from Unaids Facts and Figures ( 2008). Examples of work undertaken as detailed on the Cafod web site include such varied activities as working with religious leaders in Ethiopia in order to reduce stigma; giving job training to Aids and HIVB positive people in Kenya; giving legal advice in Honduras and preventing discrimination against Aids victims in Bolivia. (What partners are doing, 2010) Logistics This includes such things as promoting the charity so that funds and workers are available to meet identified needs. This is everything from maintaining an interactive web site and operating diocesan offices in the United Kingdom, as well as recruiting staff and volunteers through these, and even designing gift envelopes and ensuring these reach the appropriate people. It also means being aware of such things as papal encyclicals, synods of bishops, and non –ecclesial literature produced by such organizations as Unesco or government authorities in the countries where they work. Few organizations work in as many different countries and in with as many varied languages, people groups and situations, medical, political and ethical. It means tremendous organizational skills are needed to deal with the local, national and international manipulation of goods, people and monies in order to achieve optimum results , often under very difficult physical conditions. There must of course be responsibilities taken and steps taken to ensure that all actions are done within the particular code of ethics as set out in documents dealing with Catholic social teaching, which is concerned with such things as expressing the Catholic faith as it effects human dignity, a sense of community and caring for the natural world, which Catholics see as a duty placed upon man by the creator God. (Catholic Social Teaching, 2011). Logistics will include the minutiae of finding the address of a presbytery in order to send out publicity, but also such things as checking staff qualifications, arranging staff training, as well as such matters as arranging negotiations with partner groups or representatives of relevant government agencies. Marketing Cafod is concerned about food and the care of the environment, as well as the wellbeing and rights of those who produce it. It is involved in such things as obtaining fair prices, improved working conditions, sustainability and fairer trade conditions, ways of redressing the present huge imbalance between the third world and richer countries. They are therefore involved in such movements as Fairtrade, as a long term action and policy , and also one off activities as the World Food Day Raffle. ( 2011) Packs are produced for schools which enable teachers to introduce pupils to Fairtrade issues , and also promoting the idea of becoming a Fairtrade trade school. Marketing in terms of annual collections , is organized on a diocesan as well as an organizational level, but often consists of just distributing and collecting envelopes at parish level, rather than real attempts at educating people about its aims and programmes and so promoting consumer power to the most effective extent. Some of these educational packs require payment by users, but presumably they already know something about Cafod and so see such payments as part of their giving. Finance This topic has a lot to do with accountability. If members of Cafod have a true desire to promote its ideals and aims, then they must bear a responsibility to encourage giving, and then to see that funds are used in the most economical and effective ways. This affects everything from the design and costs of collection envelopes to deciding which campaigns will be taken up and which aims met, designing these campaigns, setting them into action and allocating sufficient funding to enable such activities to obtain their desired results. Finance also involves such things as managing funds, changing currency at the optimum times, and dealing with people in countries where bribery and corruption may be rife. All this is closely linked to its present aims as outlined in the 2011 Report from the trustees and as described by the Bishop of Hallam, John Rawsthorne. ( page 1) Aim 1 Working to increase the power of men and women in those communities which are the poorest and most disadvantaged. Aim 2 Promoting development which is locally sustainable , enabling the poorest and most disadvantaged people to have access to the essential resources and services they require. Aim 3. Achieving the means of recovery from crises and promoting peace and security in affected communities. Aim 4. Building further on partnerships within the Catholic communities within England and Wales. Recommendations Education is the key to the further promotion of Cafod, whether in encouraging giving by individual Catholics, obtaining staff and partners, promoting ideas about Fairtrade, and gaining the co-operation of both partners and government agencies. The organization is now 50 years old , two generations on from its origins. It has of course developed immensely from those days, not just in funds raised but in the variety of areas in which it work, and the types of work undertaken, but even now there are many campaigns that it must have to decide not to take part in for a variety of reasons, including having staff who have a particular expertise linked with positive motivation, but also financial reasons. Its activities are based to a large extent upon Catholic social policies which fit in with their Christian ethos, and which are promoted by the church hierarchy, from individual pulpits to the diocesan and pontifical offices. Although such matters are obviously not ignored, perhaps it is time for the church authorities to consider promoting to a greater extent social action. A yearly homily based upon passages such as the story of the judgment of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25 is good, but is soon forgotten. Parishioners need teaching about social issues and this cannot be done adequately in an annual five minute homily. If the Catholic church is to continue in its present top down hierarchical systems then the initiatives must come above –from the papacy down to individual diocesan leaders and parish priests. However there is of course a general decrease in vocations to the priesthood and fewer and fewer priests, often an aging population, are individually managing more parishes. This means that, in order to carry out the injunctions of the Savior himself, more use must be made of the vast, and in many cases underused, majority. Parishes need to have justice and social policy representatives who do more than stand at the door once a year handing out envelopes. There is nothing wrong with Rosary groups, youth groups and all the rest, but these must operate alongside groups concerned with wider issues of social justice. Conclusion By charity, we love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves for love of God. Charity, the form of all the virtues, "binds everything together in perfect harmony" (Col 3:14) Catechism of the Catholic Church 1844 The Cafod web pages promote its ideas in a very positive ways, and is easy to negotiate. The organization is obviously doing a vast amount of good, in particular for underprivileged and exploited peoples in countries right around the globe, certainly going far beyond anything its originators could ever have conceived. It is also open to new ways of doing things and adapting to changing conditions, as is made clear in its 2011 financial report which mentions new initiatives such as ‘One World’ initiated in 2010. However there are always more tasks to be considered and possibly staffed and funded , ever more people in need of help. At present many, even in the west, are in financial difficulties. This however can never be seen as an excuse or reason for not taking up the gospel challenge, not just to promote the gospel and encourage the faith in a direct way as in catechism classes, but also to meet the challenges raised by the poor, the disenfranchised, the exploited. The needs are immense and we look forward to continuing that vital work, hand in hand with the staff, friends, supporters and partners across the world. ( Rawsthorne, 2011, report of the trustees and financial statement, letter from the chair) References Cafod( 2011) Report of the Trustees and Financial Statement, retrieved 23rd November 2011 from www.cafod.org.uk/content/download/136128/1468352/version Cafod- ( 2011) Our History, retrieved 21st November 2011 from http://www.cafod.org.uk/about-us/history Catholic Social Teaching, ( 2011) retrieved 21st November 2011 from http://www.catholicsocialteaching.org.uk/ Cafod, ( 2011) Fairtrade retrieved 23rd November 2011 from http://www.cafod.org.uk/primary/fairtrade Catechism of the Catholic Church 1844, Catholic Giving , retrieved 23rd November 2011 from http://www.catholicgiving.org.uk/ Paul VI, ( March 26th 1967) Populorum Progressio, retrieved 21ST November 2011 from http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_26031967_populorum_en.html Paul VI, Apostolic letter ( 14th May 1971) retrieved 21st November 2011 from http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/apost_letters/documents/hf_p- vi_apl_19710514_octogesima-adveniens_en.html Synod of Bishops, (1971) Statement , Justicia in Mundo, retrieved 21st November 2011 from http://www.educationforjustice.org/system/files/justiciainmundo.pdf Unaids Facts and Figures, ( 2008) retrieved 21st Novemember 2011 from http://www.cafod.org.uk/news/media-centre/hiv/facts-and-figures United Nations, ( 1948) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, retrieved 21st November 2011 from http://www.youthforhumanrights.org/what-are-human- rights/universal-declaration-of-human-rights/articles-1-15.html What Cafod’s Partners are Doing, ( 2010) retrieved 21st November 2011 from http://www.cafod.org.uk/news/media-centre/hiv/cafod-partners World Food Day Raffle ( 2011) retrieved 21st November 2011 from http://www.cafod.org.uk/fundraising/world-food-day-raffle-2011/terms-and- conditions Read More