Specific Apparatus of Vatican Diplomacy – Charity Organisations
Abstract :
Throughout of its existence, the Catholic Church has always tried to protect
the most vulnerable members of society. This is proven by the fact that even
the earliest Church documents show how the new church tried to alleviate some
acute social problems. The religious and secular legal regulations which govern
the operations of Catholic charity organisations and the whole institutional
structure of these bodies were created by a long historical process which led to
the birth of the current web of multiple different Catholic charities. Furthermore,
these institutions are not merely NGOs or humanitarian relief agencies. Instead
their activities are based upon the activities of the Founder, Jesus of Nazareth, and
upon the spirit of the Gospels. Catholic charitable actions are mainly motivated by
theological concepts and the social teaching of the Church even if these activities
are executed by formal institutions.
The current Pope expects a more active participation of national and international
Catholic charities in multiple areas like looking after the poor and the refugees
and in the struggle for universal peace.
International cooperation, partly because of the universal nature of the Church,
is not an unknown concept for the Catholic Church. Therefore, its charities are
willing to work with every national and international institution, including secular
governments, which work to make life on Earth more bearable for mankind. Since
many contemporary humanitarian catastrophes take place in war zones, Catholic
charities must find acceptable ways of cooperation with the various armed forces
operating in these territories. This paper demonstrates the legal framework
governing the work of Caritas Internationalis, which is the official charity service
of the Holy See and which also acts as an umbrella organization for the more
than 160 national Catholic Caritas bodies. In this article I will only mention these
national Caritas institutions and any other international NGOs if this is necessary
for the better understanding of either the international nature or the international
activities of Caritas Internationalis.