The first ‘Caritas Leeds Day of Reflection and Action’ was held at Hinsley Hall, bringing fresh energy to Bishop Marcus Stock’s vision of Catholic social organisations and projects coming together for prayer, networking, and inspiration.

In the summer of 2023, Bishop Marcus designated Catholic Care as the ‘Caritas agency’ of the Diocese of Leeds. Caritas is the Latin word for love, and every diocese in the world has a Caritas agency whose task is to show God’s particular love for the poor and marginalised through practical acts of charity.

In addition to Catholic Care, there are many charitable projects happening in parishes, schools, chaplaincies, and religious communities across the diocese. Catholic Care is now entrusted by Bishop Marcus with the task of supporting those projects on practical matters such as safeguarding, health and safety compliance, and finance. Because of Catholic Care’s resources and experience, Bishop Marcus has asked us ‘to provide ongoing direction and coordination of the service of charity’ in the Diocese of Leeds, which means we’ll be working even more closely with partner charities and groups like CAFOD, the Saint Vincent de Paul Society (SVP), Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission, and the Vicariate for Education. As a charity, Catholic Care won’t be taking on additional projects or taking over other groups, but will help build capacity and encourage coordination.

The Day of Reflection and Action was the first gathering of these different groups since Bishop Marcus’ designation of Catholic Care as the diocesan Caritas agency. The plan is to hold such an event at least annually, hopefully with additional ‘Forum’ gatherings for those in the Caritas network looking at specific topics and areas for collaboration.

The day was jointly chaired by Carol Hill, Director of Catholic Care, and Monsignor Paul Grogan, Episcopal Vicar in the Diocesan Vicariate for Education. The event was opened by Bishop Marcus. He reminded everyone present that baptised members of the Church have a role in administering what he called ‘the universal sacrament of salvation’, which is the love of God we show to our sisters and brothers through acts of practical care.

Raymond Friel, Chief Executive Officer of Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN), spoke about the bigger Caritas Internationalis network, active in over 160 countries in the world, and the second largest provider of humanitarian aid in the world, after the Red Cross. England and Wales have two members of Caritas Internationalis: Caritas Social Action Network, which convenes and supports 52 Catholic charities working to alive poverty at home, and CAFOD, which works on international development. It’s amazing to think that Catholic Care is part of such a huge network of charitable love.

Carol Hill led a very informative session on Catholic Social Teaching (CST), inviting participants to take part in a game matching film quotes to CST principles. This was followed by workshops and presentations by the various groups present, including: Growing Old Grace-fully, St. Vincent de Paul Society (SVP), Together for the Common Good, and The Bishop Wheeler Catholic Academy Trust.

Among the forty or so participants there was a great deal of energy for the mission of charity in the diocese. Participants could see the benefits of having one organisation to act as a point of contact, supporter, and convener of the charitable works of the various agencies and parishes.

Bishop Marcus reminded us that Pope Benedict XVI said in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) 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.

You can see more photographs of the day on Catholic Care’s new Flickr account: www.flickr.com/photos/catholiccare

STAY IN TOUCH WITH CARITAS LEEDS

Catholic Care is producing a quarterly newsletter, Caritas Leeds Connect, to promote the work of the Caritas Leeds network. The first edition, Autumn 2024, is now available to download.