Caritas Pakistan opened in 1965 and has many years of humanitarian assistance history in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. It is affiliated with

Caritas Internationalis Caritas Internationalis (Latin for ) is a confederation of 162 national Catholic relief, development, and social service organisations operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. The name Caritas Internationalis refers to both the ...

, a Roman Catholic humanitarian organisation and one of the largest networks dedicated to reducing poverty and injustice in the world.

Asian tsunami

The organisation's work sometimes extends beyond national boundaries. On January 12, 2005, four doctors from Caritas Lahore left for Sri Lanka to assist survivors of the Asian tsunami. The doctors took medicines and US$8,448, which they handed over to Caritas Sri Lanka. The doctors planned to stay in Sri Lanka for two weeks.

2005 earthquake

In 2005 Catholic school children in Pakistan showed great solidarity with earthquake victims in

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

. In

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

pupils in

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

Schools organised school bazaars to collect funds for Kashmir. They collected 3,000 bottles of mineral water which Caritas distributed to people in affected areas. Christian school pupils provided Caritas with food, medicine and also funds for schooling since most schools collapsed in the quake. Catholic school teachers have contributed to the solidarity efforts giving one day's wage to the fund for earthquake victims. Many of the volunteers involved in assisting people in areas affected by the October 8 quake are Catholics operating with Caritas and other Christian humanitarian agencies. A Caritas Pakistan team arrived the village of

Balakot Balakot (; ; ) is a town in Mansehra district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The town was significantly damaged during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake but was later rebuilt with the assistance of the Government of Pakistan. Geography Balakot is l ...

to assist patients at the Leprosy Centre completely destroyed in the earthquake. The team, brought food as well as medicines to patients entirely without access to nurses and doctors. Caritas provided medical assistance, calling in medical and nursing personnel from other parts of Pakistan and even from India. They put up a field hospital in

North West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ) was a province of British India from 1901 to 1947, of the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, and of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1970 to 2010. It was established on 9 November 1901 from ...

and asked local people to lend a room for patient care. A Caritas team in Battagram village supplied medical equipment and medicine, walking 24 km on foot along mountain paths. Caritas personnel work with the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

which provided logistical help and transport. Caritas Pakistan continue to help earthquake-affected people by providing temporary shelters and warm clothes, but also focused their efforts on longer-term health and livelihood work, including the running of mobile health clinics, the rebuilding of three basic health units, kitchen garden training and seed and fertiliser distributions.

2010 floods

In August 2010 the heaviest rains in 80 years caused the worst flooding the country has ever seen. Caritas will provide much-needed relief to 2,500 families in the Islamabad-Rawalpindi and Multan dioceses as well Quetta vicariate.

Milestone

In September 2015, hundreds of Pakistani Catholics gathered for a Mass of thanksgiving in Lahore, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of Caritas Pakistan. Archbishop

Joseph Coutts Joseph Coutts (born 21 July 1945) is a Pakistani prelate of the Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Karachi from 2012 to 2021. He served as Bishop of Faisalabad from 1998 to 2012. Pope Francis made Coutts a cardinal on 28 June 20 ...

of Karachi, who is also chairman of Caritas Pakistan, was the principal celebrant. Concelebrants included Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw of Lahore, Bishop

Rufin Anthony Rufin Anthony (12 February 1940 – 17 October 2016) was a Pakistani Roman Catholic bishop. Early life Anthony was born in Khushpur, Lyallpur District, British India (now in Faisalabad District, Pakistan). He completed his primary and secondary ...

of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, Bishop

Joseph Arshad Joseph Arshad (born August 25, 1964) is the Catholic Bishop of Islamabad-Rawalpindi in Pakistan. Biography Arshad was born on August 25, 1964, in Lahore. After completing school, he began his priestly education at St. Mary's Minor Seminary, ...

of Faisalabad, Bishop

Benny Travas Benny Mario Travas (born 21 November 1966) is a Pakistani prelate of the Catholic Church and Archbishop of Karachi, Pakistan. He served as Bishop of Multan from 2015 to 2021. Biography Travas was born in Karachi, Pakistan, on 21 November 1966. ...

Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...

, and a number of priests.

Other work

Caritas in Pakistan in 2007 opened the Multan Padre Pio Medical Centre to provide basic medical care to the underprivileged. The inauguration was performed by the Catholic Bishop of Multan, Bishop

Andrew Francis Andrew Michael Scott Francis is a Canadian actor. He has appeared in many television shows and films including '' My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'' as Shining Armor, '' MegaMan NT Warrior'' as MegaMan.EXE, '' Monster Rancher'' as Genki, '' ...

. The centre will be open six days a week with male and female doctors on duty on alternate days. On April 22, 2016, Archbishop Joseph Coutts launched the Caritas campaign ‘Trees for the Earth’ at

Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Karachi St. Patrick's Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi, and is located near the Empress Market in the Saddar locality in central Karachi. The church was completed in 1881, and can accommodate 1,500 worshipers. At ...

. In this campaign Caritas will plant 5,000 trees in church areas and other parts of the city to protect the environment. In Karachi Caritas started the Livelihood program, an entrepreneurship project with the slogan "Empower Women, Empower Pakistan". Between November 2017 until February 2018 they trained 240 women and young girls in candle making, handicrafts, jewellery making, block printing, screen printing, foil work, cutting and stitching, dress design and fashion design.Caritas helps Pakistani women find work
UCANews website, Published 21 March 2018, Retrieved 9 May 2021

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caritas Pakistan Catholic Church in Pakistan 1965 establishments in Pakistan Charities based in Pakistan

International organisations based in Pakistan