In light of the lasting impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake which triggered a powerful tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Caritas Japan has a profound understanding and experience of the urgency to live in the spirit of integral ecology as one human family. It has been over a decade since the disaster yet ...
There are many ways you can get involved with Caritas. There are Caritas organisations in most countries and in all regions of the world. If you would like to get involved with your national Caritas organisation you can find their details on our Where we work pages.
Become a Caritas volunteer
Much of Caritas’ unique strength comes from the combined power and commitment of its worldwide members and supporters. In times of crisis, Caritas organisations can call on hosts of volunteers to support their emergency response. In long-term development, and in Caritas’ role as a provider of day-to-day love and hope, volunteers also make a crucial contribution.
Have you got skills and empathy to contribute as a Caritas volunteer?
The national Caritas organisation or the local parish usually coordinates volunteers. The help of Caritas volunteers is essential to our mission of listening to the pleas of those in need and responding with action and love. Please get in touch with us to find out how you can help or contact the national Caritas organisation near you.
When you volunteer to help people in need, your practical and compassionate actions can make all the difference to them.
But that’s not all. Being a volunteer can open your eyes and change your mind as well. It can bring a deeper meaning to your life, a stronger sense of purpose.
Volunteers Stories
Monitoring children at risk of malnutrition Maria Mendoza opens the doors to her driveway in Punta de Mulato, Venezuela in early July. She’s preparing for a weekly growth monitoring session for children under five. Caritas volunteers who have been inspired to help during the Venezuela crisis carry chairs and tables from the Church grounds. A ...
Caritas is a mission, not a job. Nirmala Wijesinghe who runs a Caritas safe house in Beiruit is one of the many staff and volunteers around the world who illustrate this through their constant dedication and hard work.
Cardinal Sandri invited young men and women to be “protagonists of history” and reminisced the night vigil that took place in Bkerkeh during Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI visit to Lebanon, saying: “The intensity of this prayer was like a beam of light directed towards the Middle Eastern sky, a sky that many wish to see ...
Seldom has a joint programme between aid agencies made such a personal impression on an employee, but the partnership of ACT Alliance and Caritas—Protestants and Catholics helping Darfur–struck a cord with an aid worker in the region. Here, he describes why he likes his nickname. My real first name is Abakar. But everyone calls me ...
By Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Jordan staff “I like to help others,” said Madleen Qandah, a 21 years old mathematics student in Mafraq. She is volunteering with Caritas Jordan as it aids Syrian refugees fleeing violence in their own country. “I just put myself in the refugees’ shoes and treat them how I would like ...
Interview with Ms. Seiko Ise More than 2500 people have volunteered for Caritas Japan programs helping survivors of the March2011 tsunami. Here, a Caritas coordinator describes what the volunteers do–and what motivates them. How do people get started volunteering for Caritas Japan? People find out about volunteering with Caritas through the internet or from friends. ...
Pope Benedict XVI says that through volunteering “we also become visible instruments of his love in a world that still profoundly yearns for that love amid the poverty, loneliness, marginalization and ignorance that we see all around us.” The pope was addressing 160 bishops and representatives of charitable organisations from 25 countries here in Rome ...
The tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011 was one of the most destructive and terrifying disasters of modern times. Over 15,000 people died; many more saw their homes swept away. Along Japan’s east coast, towering piles of debris stand near the cement foundations of whole neighbourhoods that are now gone. Caritas Japan immediately began ...
Caritas Internationalis Delegate Joseph Cornelius Donnelly reports from Bonn. More people everywhere are falling further into poverty and many into extreme poverty. Social situations where we live demand we respond as individuals with clear role to build up communities. People are needed more than only dollars and sense. Civil society organising is natural product of ...