Scottish Catholic Observer

Archbishop Leo Cushley marked Scotland’s national day this week by launching a new project to help the nation’s poorest.

Caritas Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh will promote anti-poverty initiatives like foodbanks and soup kitchens across the 113 parishes of the archdiocese. It will help parishes to both create their own projects and also import and take ownership of programmes by existing charitable bodies, such as the Society of St Vincent de Paul, the Missionaries of Charity or the St Catherine’s Mercy Centre in Edinburgh.

“Scotland is a country of great peace and prosperity, beauty and bounty, and yet ours is also a land where too many go without: without opportunity, without dignity, without hope,” Archbishop Leo Cushley said on St Andrew’s Day.

“Caritas Archdiocese St Andrews & Edinburgh is a tangible legacy of the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year of Mercy, that has just concluded, as it’s our way of continuing to bring God’s mercy, God’s love to those in greatest need; the poor, the marginalised, the lonely, the defenceless.”

Year of Mercy

Fr Kevin Dow, the director of the new project and parish priest of Sts John & Columba parish in Rosyth and St Peter in Chains in Inverkeithing, said he was excited to be involved in the venture.

“The great legacy of Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Mercy includes spiritual works of mercy such as forgiving sins through the Sacrament of Reconciliation—but also corporal works of mercy such as feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless and visiting prisoners,” he said. “It’s those works that Caritas Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh aims to promote in the months and years to come.”

Global network

Caritas Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh will take its place beneath the umbrella of Caritas Internationalis, the confederation of 165 Catholic relief, development and social service organisations which operates in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, and includes Scotland’s own Catholic international aid agency SCIAF.

“To be part of such a global network of prayer, love and expertise will provide us with tremendous support as we aim to develop and grow,” Fr Dow said.

The new organisation was welcomed to the Caritas family by Philip McCarthy, CEO of Caritas Social Action, which works with Catholic charities and diocesan Caritas networks across England and Wales.

“It’s brilliant to hear this is happening,” he said. “If there’s anything we can do to help we’d be delighted to.”

He went on to explain that the Church in most European countries has a single Caritas agency that has ‘a home and an abroad division.’

“Things are a bit different here: CAFOD deals with the abroad,” he said. “But when Pope Benedict visited in 2010 he asked the bishops, ‘Where are your domestic Cartias agencies?’”

Since then seven diocese have launched Caritas agencies south of the border. “There is often great work going on already at parish level,” he explained. “But having some extra expertise at diocese level can help a lot. There’s one great parish in Salford that has taken in a family of Syrian refugees, but the local Caritas diocesan agency made it much easier for them by dealing with the local authority and on safeguarding, insurance, all that sort of stuff.”

SCIAF Director Alistair Dutton also welcomed the new organisation.

“Poverty makes life extremely difficult for a great many people both overseas and at home,” he said. “We welcome Caritas St Andrews and Edinburgh into the Caritas family and have no doubt their work will bring real benefit to vulnerable families here in Scotland.”

Mother Teresa

Caritas Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh was launched at a soup kitchen run by the Edinburgh convent of the Missionaries of Charity, who were founded by St Teresa of Calcutta in 1950.

“Our saintly foundress, affectionately known around the world as Mother Teresa, was a beautiful example of caritas in action,” Sr Caritas MC, Mother Superior of the Missionaries of Charity in Edinburgh, said.

“She knew that every poor, sick or dying person is made in the image and likeness of God and so has intrinsic dignity, worth and beauty—my prayer to her this day is that Caritas Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh can similarly bring the love of God to the most vulnerable in our society.”

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—This story ran in full in the December 2 edition print of the SCO, available in parishes.