While many aid agencies are pulling out of the city, Caritas Syria has started its next three-year, €4.1 million project for Aleppo, aimed at reaching 70,000 of its most vulnerable residents.
An emergency can strike at any time, overwhelming the most vulnerable people and leaving them with nothing.
But there is Caritas, the helping arm of the Catholic Church. Caritas acts fast to save lives and livelihoods in emergencies.
Caritas has a unique worldwide network of more than 160 member organisations with the experience and skills to respond efficiently and effectively. Its strong roots – put down over decades – means Caritas is there both before the emergency and afterwards.
Caritas also looks to the future, investing in its emergency preparedness and response skills to face emergencies like floods or droughts. It is energetically focused on disaster risk reduction – which means taking steps to lessen the harm done by repeated natural disasters in the same country or area.
Caritas also forges dialogue to prevent the conflicts which cause suffering and loss and works to transform active conflicts into peaceful settlements.
No more will violence be heard in your land, despoiling or breakdown within your boundaries. – (Isaiah 60:18)
Caritas updates on Conflicts & Disasters

Syria reaches a grim anniversary in March: eight years of civil war. After half a million deaths, with 11.6 million people forced from home, the nation is on its knees. Caritas is working inside Syria to help rebuild shattered lives.

Caritas warns that 90% of households in Venezuela have a poor diet. Damage caused by chronic malnutrition is irreversible for thousands of children.

More than 87,000 survivors of the devastating earthquake and tsunami are living in evacuation centres or informal camps, with many more staying with relatives or friends.

Caritas Syria walked side by side with scout groups and the secondary school students of Medaa in the destroyed streets of their village in Ghouta.

The civil war in Syria forced Maram and her family to flee without any possessions. Five years later they’re still homeless and yet to return. Security has improved in the capital, Damascus, and the family’s hometown in the adjoining villages in the Ghouta countryside, but the humanitarian situation remains critical. Winter is on its way ...

Umi Sumbajono and her family had seconds to react when a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia’s Sulawesi island on September 28. The 55-year-old grabbed her two grandchildren and fled from their home in Jono Ono village. “I panicked and prayed,” Umi said. “We saw the land, the ground, splitting and cracking, with mud and water ...

The Venezuela food crisis is affected people in unexpected ways. Not only has it left thousands of people hungry and many children at risk of malnutrition - it's now threatening the production of communion hosts. Nuns in Caracas tell us how people are so hungry they're eating the scraps from making the communion host.

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.

Fatwa Fadillah stoops among the make-shift tarp tents, urgently seeking information, but also needing to patiently listen and assess. Almost a week has passed since an earthquake struck his homeland. It toppled buildings and crumbled roads. Hours later, a tsunami washed away people, property, roads and crops. Help us respond to people in need – ...
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.