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The 19th General Assembly of Caritas International is taking place in Rome this week and is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the confederation. Over 300 delegates are working on plans to strengthen their service working alongside and on behalf of the poor.
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is represented by Director Michael Smith & Chair Mark Richards. Anne Dickinson is also attending as outgoing Caritas Oceania President and in her role as Chair of the Caritas International Bureau’s Working Party on Governance is presenting a report on that subject. Fr Gerard Burns is attending as a candidate for the Caritas Oceania Presidency.
The assembly is not without controversy:
- The re-appointment of the secretary general Lesley-Anne Knight, was blocked by the Vatican,
- Keynote speaker Timothy Radcliffe was replaced at the last minute by a Vatican official.
- In his opening address, Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, president of Caritas, praised the work of the organization’s secretary-general, Lesley-Anne Knight and said way she was not allowed to stand as a candidate is to be appraised by the incoming Executive Committee. It “has caused grievance in our confederation, above all within the many women working for Caritas across the world.”
Source
- Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand
- Caritas International
- Image: Caritas International
