Caritas Internationalis-General assembly took place from May 23 to May 28, 2019. The general assembly had around 450 delegates from more than 150 national Catholic charities from around the world to focus on the theme, “One Human Family. One Common Home.” The Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Caritas president said “charity work based on Catholic social teachings are the lived experience of Caritas.”
Caritas produced a giant collage, copies of which was used to mobilise a #sharejourney global week of action in art. The Communities around the world was invited to post their photos in the collage along with migrants’ and refugees’. The mosaic was unveiled on May 23 at a Vatican news conference. The Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Caritas president, maternal grandfathers photo was put on the mosaic, who immigrated to the Philippines from China. His Eminence Cardinal Tagle added a photo of his Lolo Kim to mosaic of migrants, world leaders and Caritas workers to represent how humanity forms one family and is sharing one journey. His Holiness Pope Francis completed the #sharejourney collage with the wedding photo of his parents.
Caritas President, Cardinal Tagle warns against politicians and business people who present themselves as messiahs. His Eminence Cardinal Tagle further said “We are part of one human family,” Being part of one family also means sharing responsibility for the family home, which is the earth. Efforts to protect human beings and protect the environment at the same time are part of what the Catholic Church calls ‘integral ecology.’
Oliviero Forti, director of migration services for Caritas Italy, and his agency is one of many humanitarian agencies that favours migration. The political debate over immigration can be disturbing, “but it won’t move us a millimeter from welcoming, rescuing and doing anything else necessary to recognize these people as our brothers and sisters.
