100 members of Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN) and their friends and partners gathered together last week for a two day conference at St. Mary’s University College in Twickenham.

The setting was a reminder of the visit of His Holiness last September when the college hosted the meeting between Pope Benedict and school children from all over the country. The photos and the ‘Heart to Heart’ banners in the college reception spoke mutely of the visit and its legacy - a renewed energy and confidence in the Catholic community. Now, in June, the Bishops are calling for ‘a better coordination of social action....under the auspices of Caritas’ and that was the major topic for the Conference. CSAN is not as well known as its members who include the De Paul Trust, the Cardinal Hume Centre and the Children’s Society in Westminster to name but a few of its 38 members who deliver a wide range of care, such as family and children’s services, work with the homeless, with prisoners, and care of the elderly. It is the umbrella organisation of charities with a Catholic ethos, providing professional social care in England and Wales. Caritas, like its better known sister organisation CAFOD is part of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.

Caritas members provide services to marginalised and vulnerable children, adults and families of all faiths and none. Its mission is to promote social justice and to develop and improve the services based in social action provided by member organisations in line with Catholic social teaching and good practice. In a recent survey carried out by Caritas, the member organisations collectively supported 6,000 employees, 14,000 volunteers and some 608,000 service users and spends £140 millions on its services.

The conference was chaired by Bishop Terence Brain, himself the chair of CSAN, who invited delegates to spend ‘family time’ together celebrating our Caritas witness, reflecting on our journey of deepening social engagement with the disadvantaged of our society and looking at how best to organise ourselves and engage all people with the Good News.

The key note speaker, Rev Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, shared the hope that Caritas will bring about a better coordination of social action in England and Wales. How best to bring together this work ‘under the auspices of Caritas, whilst fully respecting the proper autonomy of local dioceses, groups and agencies involved in Catholic social action’ was the next challenge. By this November, following CSAN’s consultation process with all working in social action in the Church, it is hoped that clarity around the development of the network capable of advocating for and supporting the most vulnerable in society will emerge.

The conference hinted at a new confidence to step up and into the public space and engage with other providers including local authorities and government itself.
Amongst delegates there was also a very positive atmosphere and confidence that Caritas was stepping up to the mark as the organisation that would take forward an important legacy form the papal visit and establish through the Bishop’s Conference of England and Wales a network capable of delivering a coherent response to the social care needs of people, deepening social engagement, developing our services for the poorest and most marginalised in our society. The Caritas conference is held every two years, though with the current momentum this may need to become an annual event.

As one social commentator present said, ‘listening and meeting so many dedicated and professional people who care about others makes me feel proud to be associated with the Catholic Church’.