Celebrating Southwark Caritas first anniversary

St George's Cathedral Southwark. Image ICN/JS

Archbishop John Wilson presided at a Mass in St George's Cathedral on Saturday, 16 March, to celebrate the first year's work of the diocesan Caritas organisation. He was accompanied by a number of clergy, including three of his auxiliaries (one of them retired) and by Canon Victor Darlington who is the Episcopal Vicar responsible for Caritas Southwark.

The new organisation started out with four broad project themes: Diverting Young People from Crime; Poverty Relief Programmes & Food Bank Support; Care of Older Adults; Migrants and Refugees. More focused initiatives have since developed under these headings, linking and supporting existing projects already in existence and adding new ones,

In his homily, which several felt provided a masterclass in Catholic Social Teaching, Archbishop John made frequent reference to lessons learned during his 2023 visit to El Salvador and his joy in Southwark's hosting of the national shrine to St Oscar Romero. He pointed out that the presence of a Caritas organisation prompts important questions, such as:

What kind of vision do we have for the Church in our diocese?
What does the Gospel message mean in practice?

We are loved by Christ and want to share his love through words and actions that make it real, and to bring hope.

This is our authentic option for the poor, as explained by Romero. "A building is on fire and you're watching it burn, standing and wondering if everyone is safe. Then someone tells you that your mother and your sister are inside that building. Your attitude changes completely. You're frantic; your mother and sister are burning and you'd do anything to rescue them even at the cost of getting charred. That's what it means to be truly committed. If we look at poverty from the outside, as if we're looking at a fire, that's not to opt for the poor, no matter how concerned we may be. We should get inside as if our own mother and sister were burning. Indeed it's Christ who is there, hungry and suffering."

We are his hands and voice with which to work and advocate for justice. Each has a value as God's creation, made in his image and likeness. As Mother Theresa said when one of her sisters asked how they could possible feed the huge crowd that had gathered at their door, "We can start by feeding just one of them."

Many can close down arguments by proposing obstacles such as, "There's no room"; "They prefer to live on the street"; "They don't want heathy food". We must use concepts of love and compassion to prompt constructive discussions. God's love overwhelms us and we can embody that love in action, speaking out and advocating for the needy.

We see that modern society often fosters individualism with no consideration for the Common Good. Our mission is to build up a civilisation of love, with families as its building blocks. A diocesan Caritas links many grass-roots actions that are already ongoing, making the links apparent, rather than controlling from the top down.

Successes in one parish or school provide lessons that can be shared with others! We discover that people appreciate being viewed as individuals with their own hopes and joys. Rather than seeing an anonymous mass that appears as a statistic, as a challenge, as a horde that must be penned into joining "one size fits all" solutions; we can try to discern ways to tailor initiatives so that each person is valued and accorded due dignity.

Archbishop John related a tale from El Salvador, when a young woman greeted him with the immediate comment that he had lovely eyes. An unsolicited appreciation that he has continued to enjoy: an action that we can emulate, and see those we support as human persons, not just "clients"!

Mass was followed by refreshments in Amigo Hall and socialising before a series of presentations about a variety of projects from schools and parishes that have come under the Caritas umbrella. These were numerous and came from all corners of the diocese, often with tales of work with other people of Faith and sometimes with serendipitous help from imaginative ideas. Such as realising that Borough Market can be a source of considerable donations of unsold food and that organisations such as Surrey Cricket Club have outreach programmes that can provide various resources to occupy youth clubs - not just cricket equipment!

Congratulations were proffered to Canon Victor and to John Coleby, former CEO of Caritas Westminster, who has worked to uncover and link up projects south of the Thames.

Just one comment on an imperfection! Despite the ethical investment policy of the diocese (based upon principles of Catholic Social Teaching, as previously reviewed in ICN), Amigo Hall's supply of much appreciated refreshments and hospitality showed no evidence of concentrating upon fairly traded goods or of using crockery and cutlery that can be recycled. Its CAFOD neighbour on Westminster Bridge Road could certainly provide advice about how to become a Fair Trade and low-waste/low-carbon operation and so encourage visitors to do likewise.

LINK

Caritas Southwark: https://rcsouthwark.co.uk/mission/caritas-southwark/