Caritas Internationalis is launching a special appeal to bring medical care to the population affected by the ongoing shelling in Gaza.
Making and maintaining peace are not easy jobs. There are many hurdles along the way and a conflict being transformed into peace can quickly reignite.
Caritas believes deeply in peace building and invests in both practical and spiritual conflict prevention and resolution programmes to save lives and developmental gains. There is a growing urgency to this important work. Increasing inequality, high food prices and climate change will add to the competition for scarce resources and stoke conflicts. The scarcity and misuse of land can also pit communities and countries against each other.
Caritas tackles the root causes and brings communities together to make peace. It trains parish workers and volunteers in reconciliation and peacebuilding, providing them with the tool-kits and equipment – even down to bicycles! – to do the job.
Caritas thinks ahead, helping local communities alongside displaced ones to prevent conflict beginning between the two. Caritas provides skills training, education and housing – helping people get back home together, back to working and learning. Above all, Caritas changes attitudes to stop the embers of conflict becoming the flames of war.
Caritas Updates on Peacebuilding
Help Caritas provide essential medical services to the wounded Gaza’s population after daily air bombardments
Caritas Internationalis is with the Holy Father on this pilgrimage to Iraq, a crucial moment of expressing solidarity with Christians in the country and in the Middle East. It is moment to call for dialogue and reconciliation in a country recovering from decades of war.
Caritas in Colombia helped plan and rebuild a river port in the Catatumbo region, near Venezuela. Rebuilding the port contributed to efforts to link up communities in a zone previously at the mercy of rebel and paramilitary activity. The Colombian government and FARC rebels signed an historic peace agreement in 2016 following decades of civil ...
Caritas found profound inspiration in Paul VI’s encyclical Populorum Progressio, where the Pontiff stated that “development is the new name of peace”.
Two hugely influential figures in the recent history of the Catholic Church and Caritas Internationalis, Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Oscar Romero from El Salvador, become saints on 14th October 2018 in Rome.
Half the people of the Central African Republic needs humanitarian aid due to a collapse of the rule of law and a failure by United Nations peacekeepers to establish security.
by Caroline Brennan, Catholic Relief Services with additional reporting by Harriet Paterson In a late addition to his plans, Pope Francis hopes to meet Rohingya refugees from Myanmar at an inter-religious encounter for peace in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 1 December. He has previously expressed his “full closeness” to the Rohingya people. The Dhaka meeting will ...
Caritas agencies call on western countries to do more to help fleeing Syrians, as more than five million people have been forced to cross borders and register as refugees in neighbouring countries. They warn that a Brussels Conference on Syria this week must prioritise mobilising funds for longer-term development for Syrian refugees. In a joint ...
Blessed Óscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, was assassinated while celebrating the Eucharist on March 24, 1980. Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chávez, Archbishop of San Salvador and President of Cáritas El Salvador reminds us of his legacy. How did you meet Monsignor Romero? Monsignor Romero and I are originally from the same diocese, the diocese of ...
Recent Emergencies
How Caritas works in Conflicts and Disasters
Caritas responds to emergencies across the globe, leads peacebuilding efforts in violence-ridden areas and helps local organisations prepare for potential disasters of all kinds. Learn more.