Caritas Italy

Caritas Italy (Italian: Caritas Italiana) is an Italian charitable organisation.

Caritas Italy

Caritas Italiana
Established	2 July 1971; 53 years ago (1971-07-02)
Founder	Episcopal Conference of Italy
Type	Nonprofit
Tax ID no.	80102590587
Purpose	social services, humanitarian relief, development aid, advocacy
Location	Via Aurelia 796, Rome, Italy
Coordinates	41.8898°N 12.4077°E / 41.8898; 12.4077
President	Archbishop Carlo Roberto Maria Redaelli[1]
Website	www.caritas.it

It was established by the Italian Bishops' Conference to promote overall human development, social justice, and peace, especially focusing on helping the poorest members of society. Caritas Italy is a member of both Caritas Internationalis and of Caritas Europa.^[2]

History

In 1970 Pope Paul VI dissolved the Italian Pontificia Opera Missionaria (POA, Pontifical Missionary Work), a charity that had been supported by American Roman Catholics and which reported directly to the Apostolic See. It had managed charity work in Italy during the two World Wars and in the early postwar period.^[3]

On 14 November 1970, at the seventh General Assembly of the Episcopal Conference of Italy (C.E.I.) the papal recommendations were approved.^[4] With decree number 1727/71 of 2 July 1971, the C.E.I. approved the first statute of the diocesan Caritas of Italy, in charge of the Church's charitable and relief activities.^[5][6]

On 28 September 1972, the first national meeting of the diocesan Caritas was held.^[7] Three years later, Naples hosted the first national meeting between Church and lay people whose title was "Volunteering and human promotion", dedicated to the arising questions of the socalled Third Sector.^[8]

On 10 June 1977, Caritas Italiana and the Italian Ministry of Defence signed an agreement which added the former Pontificia Opera Missionaria to the list of entities where conscientious objectors could perform their civil service.^[9] The list was public and available at military districts.

In 2021, almost 1.5 million interventions were provided, and the organisation's listening centers gave support to 227,566 people (7.7% more than the previous year).^[10]

References

1. "Carlo Roberto Maria Redaelli alla guida di Caritas italiana". romasette.it (in Italian). 24 May 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
2. "Statuto della Caritas Italiana ("Statues of Caritas Italy")" (PDF). chiesacattolica.it (in Italian). 1990. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
3. Paolo Lambruschi (October 18, 2014). "1971 - La Caritas, intuizione profetica nello spirito del Concilio". Avvenire (in Italian). Archived from the original on June 4, 2020.
4. "Statuto della Caritas Italiana" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2020-06-04.
5. "40 anni fa la morte del beato Paolo VI. Il ricordo di Caritas Italiana" (in Italian). August 6, 2018.
6. Davanzo, don Roberto. "Paolo VI: beato della carità". Archived from the original on June 4, 2020.
7. "Discorso di Paolo VI ai partecipanti al I incontro nazionale di studi delle "Caritas" diocesane d'Italia" (in Italian). Libreria Editrice Vaticana. September 28, 1972.
8. De Luca, Claudio (2004). La dimensione educativa dell'uomo solidale (in Italian). Rubbettino Editore. p. 73. ISBN 9788849810745. OCLC 62487151. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020.
9. Brivio, Alberto (July 1, 2002). "Alfredo Giuseppe Remedi: io uno tra i primi obiettori" (PDF). IC (in Italian). pp. 26–27. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 27, 2020. and related video
10. "Presentato il Rapporto 2022 su povertà ed esclusione sociale in Italia". October 17, 2022.