Washington D.C., Nov 21, 2011 / 09:54 am
Officials with Catholic charities and relief agencies have asked people to remember both the needs of the poor at home and those facing humanitarian disasters overseas.
Generosity is “so central to our faith,” said Tom Price, the senior communications manager with Catholic Relief Services. “It is the reason for the existence of any Christian charity.”
He cited Pope Benedict XVI’s words in his 2005 encyclical “Deus Caritas Est.” There, the Pope said that for the Catholic Church, charity is not “a kind of welfare activity” that could be left to others. Rather, charity is “a part of her nature, an indispensable expression of her very being.”
Candy Hill, Catholic Charities USA senior vice president of social policy and government relations, also noted the importance of giving.