"Thanks to Caritas, I not only have a home, but a family."Natalia PeiroCaritas' key points of action are people".This week we celebrate the charity campaign of Caritas in Spain, which this year will have the slogan "You have a lot to see. We are opportunity. We are hope".
According to a Caritas communiqué, the message it seeks to convey is "to let oneself be 'looked at and touched by the tenderness of God' to achieve 'the miracle of spreading life and opportunity'. With this call, Caritas proposes to take part in social life to open our minds, refocus our gaze and see together that other reality of the world of which we are part: that of so many people who cannot access the same rights, of those who are socially disadvantaged and who live in sadness, loneliness and poverty".
Campaign data
This year, Caritas wanted to highlight some concrete data on the needs of so many people in Spain:
-1 out of every 4 people in Spain is in a situation of exclusion: some 11 million people.
-17% of the population is overspending on housing.
-1 in 3 people suffer the effects of the digital divide.
-1 out of every 3 people in Spain does not have enough income to live in dignity. Of these, 46% cut back on food, 63% on supplies and 56% on Internet and telephone. 7% of the Spanish population has no income at all.
Charity Day
Caritas points out in its campaign guide that "celebrating the Charity Day is to participate in the banquet of the Kingdom, to commune with the values of Jesus and his way of life, to become bread and wine with Him in order to give life in abundance, to give it out of love, and to become neighbors, brothers and sisters, especially to those who suffer the most.
Eva San Martín, coordinator of the Caritas campaign, pointed out that "we want to encourage and awaken the solidarity and compassion that lives in each person so that we get involved and commit ourselves to a lifestyle that transforms our model of coexistence, and makes it more just, supportive and fraternal".
Message from the bishops
The bishops of the Episcopal Subcommission for Charitable and Social Action emphasized in their message for the Day of Charity that this campaign is an "invitation to all Christians, and in a special way to those of you who work in charitable and social action, to open your eyes to the suffering of our poorest brothers and sisters, to listen to their cries and to allow your hearts to be touched in order to be an opportunity and hope for all of them".
They also commented that "we are living in times of accumulated crises. After the pandemic caused by Covid-19, came the war in Ukraine, the increase in human mobility, the evolution of the cost of energy and inflation... This situation, both locally and globally, has increased poverty and inequality and has fed hopelessness". Likewise, all this is affected by "a strongly ideologized society, which leads to polarization and tensions in the fields of economics, politics, culture and even religion".
The bishops stressed the importance of the Eucharist as a response to all these evils: "The Eucharist, sacrament of the Encounter, enables us for new types of social relationships and opens us to inclusive dialogue".
Referring to the campaign's slogan, they also pointed out in their message that "doing charity means having the courage to look people in the eye. From this point of view, we are convinced that you have a lot to do with the opportunities that other people can have. What you do, how you place yourself in the world and before others, can open doors, give life, alleviate loneliness, heal the soul.
In this way, it will be possible to "open paths of hope".
The Week of Charity will conclude with the celebration of Corpus Christi next Sunday, June 11.
