Caritas urges solidarity and
fraternity in the battle against Covid-19
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| Caritas volunteers in action in Spain (AFP) |
As the entire world grapples with the onslaught of the
Covid-19 pandemic, Caritas Internationalis, the global confederation of 165
national Catholic relief and development agencies, is trying to ensure the poor
and vulnerable are not forgotten.
By Robin Gomes
Caritas Internationalis is echoing the call of Pope Francis
for universal solidarity and fraternity in overcoming the economic and social
turmoil created by the coronavirus crisis.
Aloysius John, the Secretary-General of Caritas
Internationalis made the call during an online press conference in Rome on
Friday. He appealed for a ceasefire in conflicts, lifting of sanctions
and cancellation of the debt of poor countries.
Global solidarity and fraternity
Noting the very high global impact of the pandemic, “with
hundreds of thousands of people out of jobs due to lockdown and a slowed global
economy,” John said, “it is a major challenge and at the same time it is a call
for global solidarity”.
Referring to the appeal of Pope Francis “to look at each
other with a sense of solidarity” and act accordingly in order to “get out of
this situation together, as a whole humanity”, he said that Caritas
Internationalis was promoting promote universal solidarity in a spirit of
global fraternity.
The Caritas Secretary-General is meeting the Holy Father on Saturday, to update him on its efforts, especially in the poorest countries, to create solidarity among the people through the local dioceses and parishes.
The Caritas Secretary-General is meeting the Holy Father on Saturday, to update him on its efforts, especially in the poorest countries, to create solidarity among the people through the local dioceses and parishes.
The poor and vulnerable
While expressing concern over the impact of the virus on
China, Europe and the United States, John said that the main concern of Caritas
is to “to prepare the poorer countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the
Middle East, to confront such massive emergency due to a sudden outbreak of the
pandemic”.
“The people on the move, the migrants, the asylum seekers
and the displaced, are also in highly vulnerable conditions and are already
affected by the loss of means of livelihood, precarious living conditions and
also lack of basic needs.”
Caritas expressed special concern for those living in the
refugee and IDP [internally displaced persons] camps and regions such as the
Middle East, South Sudan and Central Africa, where the pandemic could lead to a
major humanitarian disaster in the already fragile situation.
Caritas also has at heart the urban poor who are very
vulnerable.
Laudable initiatives
John pointed a few initiatives across the world on how
Caritas, through the dioceses and parishes, is fostering solidarity to
sensitize people in taking precautionary measures against Covid-19.
The Kindness stations in Filipino dioceses spread
information on the virus and share food and basic needs, so no one is left out.
In Armenia, through a telephone helpline, Caritas provides
emotional support and closeness to the elderly.
Caritas Jerusalem distributes food and basic need kits to
the people in the West Bank and Gaza, through the parishes.
Caritas Venezuela and Italy are organising kitchen soup and distributing nutritious meals to the vulnerable and children.
Caritas Venezuela and Italy are organising kitchen soup and distributing nutritious meals to the vulnerable and children.
In this regard, the Caritas General Secretariat in Rome has
set up a COVID 19 platform to provide relevant timely information to the
confederation members.
Caritas is also using its experience in dealing with West
Africa’s Ebola pandemic to deal with the current crisis.
Appeals
Underscoring solidarity and fraternity as the need of the
hour, Caritas Internationalis called on the international community not to turn
away from “the global south which is ever more needed at this moment of
tragedy.”
Echoing the call of Pope Francis and the president of
Caritas Internationalis, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Caritas urged for a
ceasefire in conflicts at this moment of dire need in order to save innocent
lives.
It called for the lifting of sanctions on Syria, Lebanon,
Yemen and Iran so that they can engage in
humanitarian work to help the poor survive.
humanitarian work to help the poor survive.
Finally, Caritas also repeated Cardinal Tagle’s call for
writing off the debts of poor countries, so they can allocate the fund the
funds to the micro development activities of the poorest.
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