The international Caritas family includes more than 160 national organizations in more than 200 countries. The Confederation of Caritas Internationalis is a member of the Conference of the international Catholic organization of the Pontifical Council «Cor unum», which has consultative status in UNESCO and other organizations of the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the Organization of African Unity, and also cooperates with the structures of the European Union and many well-known politicians and public figures.
The first Caritas organization was created in the German city of Freiburg in 1897, then Caritas appeared in Switzerland (1901), the USA (1910), Holland (1924), etc. Priests and parishioners called their work in these new institutions “service in the spirit of caritas pastoralis (pastoral charity)”. The works of Pope Leo XIII, in particular, the 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum”, which earned the name Christian Social Teaching, became the spiritual guidance and stimulus for the emergence of the first Caritas centers. Rerum Novarum was intended to be an alternative to the ideas of socialism, and in contrast to the latter, it proclaimed the interdependence and cooperation of classes, the resolution of conflicts by everyone fulfilling his share of responsibility in the spirit of Christian teaching.
In 1924, at the Eucharistic World Congress in Amsterdam, 60 delegates from 22 countries formed an advisory body with headquarters in Lucerne, Switzerland. From 1928, regular conferences were held under the name «Caritas Catholica», where delegates met every two years until the beginning of World War II.
The ideology of Caritas was subjected to sharp criticism both in the countries of the fascist bloc and in the USSR. In the first case, through the confession of the principles of equality of people before God regardless of ethnicity or race; in the second – due to “conservatism”, rejection of the ideas of social revolution, class struggle. Common in both cases was the anti-Christian nature of criticism, an attempt to establish new values along with the destruction of millennia-old traditions of theistic ethics. Thus, the activities of Caritas were extremely complicated in Western Europe until the mid-1940s and impossible in Eastern Europe until the fall of the communist regime.
Charitable activities resumed in 1947 with two conferences held in Lucerne. They aimed at coordinating efforts and revitalizing international cooperation. The development of Caritas received the next impetus when the Secretariat of the Vatican State entrusted it with the official representation of Catholic social organizations at the international level, primarily at the United Nations.
In December 1951, with the blessing of the Holy See, the first founding General Assembly of Caritas was convened. The founding members represented Caritas organizations from 13 countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United States of America. In 1957, the Confederation was named Caritas Internationalis, reflecting the growing presence of Caritas on every continent.
From the founding of the first Caritas in Germany and the creation of the Caritas Internationalis confederation until today, Caritas has a rich history, always listening to the suffering of the poor and disadvantaged in order to give them the means to change their lives for the better. Deep moral and spiritual principles of dignity, justice and solidarity guide the work of Caritas and aim to build a society based on justice and brotherly love.