Caritas Day of Reflection and Action, Hinsley Hall, Leeds

Caritas Leeds was established in 2017 and from its inception was a member of Caritas Social Action Network. Its founding coordinator, Rev Dr Joe Cortis, was instrumental in establishing the presence of Caritas in the Diocese of Leeds. At CSAN, we benefited a great deal from Joe’s wisdom and friendship over the years.

In July 2023, Rt Rev Marcus Stock, Bishop of Leeds, announced in a pastoral message that Catholic Care was going to be designated as Leeds Caritas, “to provide ongoing direction and coordination of the service of charity” in the diocese. On Saturday 21 September 2024 at Hinsley Hall in Leeds, Catholic Care Caritas Leeds convened a day of reflection and action. The day was led by Carol Hill, the Director of Catholic Care and the former Director of CSAN’s Directors’ Forum. As such, Carol served on the board of CSAN with distinction for six years.

The day of reflection at Hinsley Hall was opened by Bishop Marcus, who reminded everyone present, as baptised members of the Church, of their role in the universal sacrament of salvation, which is the love of God we show to our brothers and sisters.

Caritas Care designated as Caritas Leeds will support and convene the groups in parishes and in the diocese working in social action. It will not replace or take over any of these groups, but will help to build capacity – for example in volunteering and with guidance on compliance – to help the various groups active in the work of charity.

Raymond Friel, CEO of Caritas Social Action Network, spoke about the bigger Caritas, active in over 160 countries in the world. Caritas Internationalis is the second largest provider of humanitarian aid in the world, after the Red Cross. England and Wales has two members of Caritas Internationalis, Cartias Social Action Network, which convenes and supports 52 Catholic charities, and CAFOD, which works on international development.

Carol Hill led a very informative session on Catholic Social Teaching, inviting the participants to consider a number of scenarios when people were in need and how the principles of CST inspires up to help.

There was clearly a great deal of energy in the room for the mission of charity in the diocese. With such clear explanations of the role of Catholic Care Caritas Leeds, the participants could see the benefits of having one organisation to act as a point of contact, supporter and convener of all the charitable work of the various agencies and parishes.

Bishop Marcus reminded us that Pope Benedict XVI said in his encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, that “Love needs to be organised if it is to be an ordered service to the community.” The many groups working for justice, animated by love, in the Diocese of Leeds, will be all the more fruitful in their work for getting to know each other and sharing ideas and inspiration under the banner of Caritas.