Honduran cardinal welcomes new Caritas statutes

May 03, 2012

Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, the president of Caritas Internationalis, has welcomed the new statutes that will govern the Church’s confederation of relief and development agencies.

In 2011, the Honduran cardinal publicly--and unsuccessfully--clashed with the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, over whether Lesley-Anne Knight, then the confederation’s secretary-general, would be permitted to serve another term in her position.

“This is a day of joy and hope for Caritas Internationalis,” said the Honduran cardinal. “Our new statutes and rules will modernize our work in delivering humanitarian assistance and development in service to the poor. They will provide us with the framework to carry out our work as part of the mission of the Church.”

“Our immense gratitude to Pope Benedict for granting these new statutes and rules and the staff of the Holy See who have worked with us through this long process,” added Michel Roy, the confederation’s current secretary-general. “The new statutes and rules clarifies that Caritas Internationalis is an organization both at the service of the confederation members and of the Holy See.”

 

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Further information:

• Pope Benedict approves new legal structure for Caritas Internationalis (Caritas Internationalis)
• Full text of new statutes: scroll down for English (Caritas Internationalis)
• New statutes for Caritas International underline Vatican control (CWN, 5/2)
• Cardinal Bertone emphasizes: Caritas must have a strong Christian identity (CWN, 5/23/11)
• Cardinals clash over leadership of Caritas (CWN, 2/22/11)