Pope Francis has placed the pontifical charitable umbrella organisation, Caritas Internationalis, under the control of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Announced on Friday — the day the Holy Father left for a highly anticipated weekend pilgrimage to Romania — the Pope approved the decree containing the new dispositions on May 20th.
Headquartered in Rome, Caritas Internationalis is a confederation comprised of more than 160 member organisations worldwide, which provide emergency relief assistance and help design and implement development policy in partnership with local Churches, government offices, and civil society actors. Caritas Internationalis describes itself as “the helping hand of the Church – reaching out to the poor, vulnerable and excluded, regardless of race or religion, to build a world based on justice and fraternal love.”
