The new team of Caritas Internationalis, the Catholic Church’s humanitarian aid agency, would create "a better Caritas" in the next four years, says the newly elected President of Caritas Internationalis, Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi.
"In this difficult time for Caritas Internationalis, together with the new vice president, new secretary general, and new treasurer, we look forward to creating a better Caritas in the next four years. I will try my best," said the Divine Word Archbishop Kikuchi of Tokyo, Japan, in a social media post on May 21.
Caritas Internationalis is the world’s second-largest international humanitarian aid agency,
"With gratitude and humility, I am so grateful to all member organizations of Caritas Internationalis for electing me as their president for the next four years on May 13 during the 22nd General Assembly of Caritas Internationalis in Rome, succeeding my dear friend, Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle," Kikuchi said.
According to Kikuchi, the new post was "a surprise" for him to be nominated in the first place and elected.
President, vice president, and treasurer of Caritas Internationalis are non-paid posts. Only the secretary general, a paid employee of the headquarters of Caritas Internationalis, will live in Rome. Kikuchi is not moving from Tokyo to Rome.
Besides Kikuchi, the other new team members of Caritas Internationalis include Alistair Dutton, secretary general of Scotland; treasurer Patrick De Bucquois of Belgium; and Kirsty Robertson, the organization’s first woman vice president.
Following complaints of a hostile workplace from employees at the Caritas International headquarters, Pope Francis dismissed the organization's entire team in November last year.
In more than 200 countries and territories throughout the world, Caritas Internationalis is a federation of 162 Catholic relief, development, and social service organizations that strive to improve the world, especially for the oppressed and poor. – Santosh Digal
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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