Portugal: Cáritas regrets lack of “public support for social action”
General Council of the Catholic body took place in Funchal
-
Photo: Cáritas Diocesana do Funchal
-
Photo: Cáritas Diocesana do Funchal
-
Photo: Cáritas Diocesana do Funchal
-
Photo: Cáritas Diocesana do Funchal
-
Photo: Cáritas Diocesana do Funchal
-
Photo: Cáritas Diocesana do Funchal
Funchal, Madeira, 27 Nov 2022 (Ecclesia) – Cáritas Portuguesa regretted, in a statement released today, the lack of “public support for social action”, a position taken after the General Council of the Catholic organization.
“At a time of sharing realities and expectations in the face of the difficulties expected for the year 2023, the council expressed its concern caused by the exposure of public support for social action and a manifestation of difficulty in dialogue and articulation, namely, on the part of of the Social Security Institute”, says the concluding document, sent to the ECCLESIA Agency.
Cáritas Portuguesa considers that “this situation makes social action with leverage for the most equal difficult”.
The Caritas General Council has been held since Friday, in the Diocese of Funchal, bringing together representatives of 17 of the 20 Diocesan Caritas.
This morning, the meeting addressed the “impact of the growing movement of the migratory flow” in Portugal and discussed the role of Cáritas in this intervention.
“Housing was highlighted as the main difficulties, either because of the high prices, or because of its precariousness; the lack of accountability of public services and the difficult access to employment”, point out the participants.
The meeting included a meeting with the President of the Regional Government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, who highlighted the work carried out by Cáritas, and a conference with the participation of entities from the city of Funchal and the entire region, given by José Manuel Rodrigues, President of the Regional Legislative Assembly of Madeira.
D. José Traquina, president of the Episcopal Commission for Social Pastoral and Human Mobility, opened the session highlighting the efforts of the national Cáritas network, considering it “a credible brand of care”.
The president of Cáritas Portuguesa, Rita Valadas, demonstrated to the “many types of poverty caused by a drag of crises”, that the members of the Catholic organization are “challenged to win”.
The opening session is rounded off by a moment of thanksgiving to the Artur Barreto family, who since 1980 have been members of the Cáritas network, in particular in the dioceses of Funchal, Lisbon, Leiria-Fátima and Setúbal. In the year 2023, the National Caritas Week will take place between the 5th and 12th of March and the General Council reaffirmed as its central theme ‘Caritas, the Love that Transforms’.
The General Council ended with the Eucharistic celebration, presided over by D. Nuno Brás, Bishop of Funchal, and included the symbolic gesture of handing over the Light of Peace associated with the Christmas campaign ’10 Million Stars – A Gesture for Peace’.
OC