Caritas Latin America and Caribbean

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Caritas Latin America and Caribbean
Cáritas América Latina y el Caribe
AbbreviationCáritas LAC
TypeNonprofit
Location
OriginsCatholic Social Teaching
Region served
Latin America and the Caribbean
Fieldsdevelopment aid, humanitarian aid, social services
Official language
Spanish
President
Gustavo Rodríguez Vega
Parent organization
Caritas Internationalis
Websitecaritaslatinoamerica.org

Caritas Latin America and Caribbean (Spanish: Cáritas América Latina y el Caribe; Portuguese: Cáritas América Latina e Caribe) is a network of Catholic nonprofit organisation active in Latin America and the Caribbean and one of the seven regions of the global Caritas Internationalis confederation.[1]

Its name is used both for the regional secretariat and its network of 22 member organisation, but the secretariat is also known as Secretariado Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Caritas (SELACC).[2]

Work[edit]

The role of Caritas Latin America and Caribbean is to foster peer exchange and learning among its member organisations, and to speak with a joint voice. The secretariat (SELACC) is also engaged in advocacy, for example concerning the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean Summits[3] as well as in the institutional capacity strengthening of its member organisations.[2][4]

Membership and structure[edit]

Unlike other regions of Caritas Internationalis, such as Caritas Europa with its secretariat in Brussels, or Caritas Africa with its secretariat in Lomé, the secretariat of Caritas Latin America and Caribbean is decentralised, albeit legally registered in San José, Costa Rica. This means that the staff is located in the offices of its various member organisations across the continent.

The member organisations are the national Caritas organisations of Latin America. These are subdivided into regional subgroups: Camex for Central America, Caribe for the Caribbean island organisations, Bolivariana for north-eastern South America and Cono Sur for the Southern tip of the continent as well as for Brazil.[5]

The country offices of other Caritas organisations, such as of the American Catholic Relief Services or of Caritas Switzerland, are not members of Caritas Latin America and Caribbean.

List of Member Organisations[edit]

Sub-region Country Member organisation
(English name) 		Established
Caribe Main Page Antilles Caritas Antilles ?
Cono Sur  Argentina Caritas Argentina 1956
Bolivariana  Bolivia Caritas Bolivia 1958
Cono Sur  Brazil Caritas Brazil 1956
Cono Sur  Chile Caritas Chile 1956
Bolivariana  Colombia Caritas Colombia 1956
Camex  Costa Rica Caritas Costa Rica 1963
Caribe  Cuba Caritas Cuba 1991
Caribe  Dominican Republic Caritas Dominican Republic 1961
Bolivariana  Ecuador Caritas Ecuador 1961
Camex  El Salvador Caritas El Salvador 1960
Camex  Guatemala Caritas Guatemala 1962
Caribe  Haiti Haiti 1975
Camex  Honduras Caritas Honduras 1959
Camex  Mexico Caritas Mexico 1973
Camex  Nicaragua Caritas Nicaragua 1960
Camex  Panama Caritas Panama 1970
Cono Sur  Paraguay Caritas Paraguay 1958
Bolivariana  Peru Caritas Peru 1955
Caribe  Puerto Rico Caritas Puerto Rico 1969
Cono Sur  Uruguay Caritas Uruguay 1962
Bolivariana  Venezuela Caritas Venezuela 1963

Leadership[edit]

Presidents[edit]

Regional Coordinators[edit]

  • 2003–2007: Francisco Gerardo Hernández Rojas[9]
  • 2007–2011: Antonio Sandoval[10]
  • 2011–2023: Francisco Gerardo Hernández Rojas[9]
  • 2023–present: Nicolás Meyer[11]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Where we work: Latin America & Caribbean". caritas.org. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Informe cuatrienal SELACC 2019-2023.pdf" (PDF). Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  3. ^ "A partnership of hope for the good of our peoples and a more fraternal world". comece.eu. 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Marco estratégico 2024–2031". caritaslatinoamerica.org. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  5. ^ López, Miroslava (13 May 2023). "Cáritas América Latina y el Caribe tiene nuevo presidente". vidanuevadigital.com. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  6. ^ "AMERICA/HAITI – Continental Caritas Meeting concludes with election of new direction, next meeting in Argentina". Agenzia Fides. 27 March 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  7. ^ "New president of Caritas Latin America elected". Catholic News Agency. 23 July 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  8. ^ Merlo, Francesco (23 November 2021). "Caritas on aid in Latin America and Caribbean: Solidarity is our mission". Vatican News. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  9. ^ a b Chaves Leiva, Lisandra (2 August 2023). "Sacerdote costarricense designado director de un centro del CELAM". iglesiacr.org. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  10. ^ Uranga, Washington (26 March 2007). "Bargalló va del Cáritas local al latinoamericano". Página 12. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  11. ^ "In a global resource struggle, is the EU ready to take Latin America, Caribbean seriously?". Euractiv. 17 July 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caritas_Latin_America_and_Caribbean&oldid=1223572550"