Caritas Mexicana, a Woman in Charge of Pastoral Activity: I am an Afro-Mexican woman, I carry in my throat the voice of my ancestors: my mother’s, my grandmothers’, my great-great-grandmothers’. In my travels through a large part of this beautiful Latin American and Caribbean continent, I have discovered different faces, especially the faces of black ...
Address: Avenida Frangipani, número 437-A, Corregimiento de Ancón. Ciudad y distrito de Panamá, Panama
Postal address: 1149 zona 9A, Panama
Telephone: +507 262-3776 Fax: +507 262-3648
Email: caritas@pastoralcaritaspanama.org
Panama is a small country located between Central America and South America, and its economy has been particularly buoyant since it took over control of its canal in 1999. Despite this, Panama has a highly unequal distribution of wealth, which means that not everyone is benefiting from the current economic boom.
Since 1970 Caritas Panama has accompanied the poorest communities throughout the country, via its various dioceses (broken down into five dioceses, one archdiocese, one prelature and one vicariate).
Caritas Panama operates in five main areas: human rights, justice, peace and reconciliation, including comprehensive support programmes for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers; Gender, including a programme that deals with domestic violence and its prevention; Pastoral care of prisoners, with programmes aimed at encouraging the personal development of people deprived of their liberty; and integral human development, including capacity building relating to food security and sovereignty, and implementation of small-scale projects with immediate impact in rural areas for farming and indigenous families with few resources, especially in the provinces of Coclé and Chiriquí. In the environment, emergency relief and climate change segment, Caritas Panama is part of the Humanitarian Aid Centre of the Panamanian Civil Defence System, and provides capacity building on the promotion of green agricultural practices in rural areas. Institutional capacity building enables organisation of Caritas itself at community, parish, diocesan, zonal and national level.
Caritas Panama maintains active alliances with the Red Cross, civic organisations, the National Migrants and Refugees Board, Ngabe Cultural Action, governmental organisations such as the Ministry of Social Development, and various international bodies such as the International Organisation for Migration. It is part of the Caritas network of Central America, together with the Caritas of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, with whom it maintains close ties.
Updates from Latin America
On World Refugee Day (June 20) Caritas Internationalis wants to highlight the strength and courage of millions of people worldwide who have left their homelands and have undertaken dangerous journeys to escape conflict, persecution or violence, extreme poverty, natural disasters or climate change. In over 200 countries, Caritas is a witness to the inspiring hope ...
In view of a renewed people-centred and hope-giving EU-CELAC partnership, Caritas Europa, Cáritas de América Latina y Caribe, COMECE and CELAM, in collaboration with Caritas Internationalis, wish to contribute to the upcoming Summit and beyond with reflections, best practices and recommendations based on their daily experience of accompaniment and engagement at the side of people ...
Alessandra Arcidiacono, a member of the humanitarian team at the Caritas Internationalis General Secretariat, is following the Caritas response to the crisis in Venezuela. Since 2017, nearly 6 million Venezuelans have migrated to neighbouring countries in Latin America due to political and socioeconomic instability within the country. Alessandra, you were recently in Venezuela to discuss ...
“Encouraged by the Holy Father’s initiative and support, we have begun to work together, with the staff, regional secretariats and member organisations, in order to carry forward and strengthen the mission of the Caritas Confederation at the service of the poorest and most vulnerable”. These are the words of Pier Francesco Pinelli, appointed by Pope ...
Ecuador is one of the most biodiverse places in the world. From the Amazon rainforest, Andean highlands, coastal mangroves to the cloud forests. It harbours more than two thirds of the world’s biodiversity. At the same time, there are several problems associated with the violation on human rights of the communities that inhabit all these ...
One week since Hurricane Ian crossed the western part of Cuba, thousands of people are left without electricity, adequate food, water and communication services due to widespread damage to housing, infrastructure and the agricultural sector in the provinces of Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, Mayabeque and Havana. At least 36,700 homes in the hurricane-affected regions have ...
On this World Day of Migrants and Refugees, we join local churches and other faith-based communities in addressing the basic human needs of migrants and refugees who are forced to flee their homes and countries
As world leaders gather on September 23rd for the UN Food Systems Summit, Caritas Confederation expresses its concerns and reaffirms its core values about the future of food systems.
INSECURITY IN THE COUNTRY IS FURTHER COMPLICATING EMERGENCY OPERATIONS. After the dramatic earthquake that hit the country yesterday, 14/08/2021, at 8.30 am local time, Caritas Haiti has already mobilised its teams to reach the most affected areas, which are the departments of Grande-Anse (Diocese of Jérémie), Sud (Diocese of Les Cayes) and Nippes (Diocese of ...