Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bogotá (Agenzia Fides) - As Lent begins, so too does the Campaign for Communication of Goods that each year is sponsored by the National Secretariate for Social Pastoral Work (SNPS/Caritas Colombia) with the goal of helping victims of natural disasters, violence, or forced exile. The Campaign will end March 23, Easter Sunday.
The goal of the Campaign this year is to make people aware of the need for mutual support in order to respond with greater sensitivity and efficiency to the needs of so many men, women, elderly, and children that on a daily basis are living through natural disasters.
This Campaign has taken place since 1982 in all the Regions of the country. Since then, the Catholic Church has been able to help more than 600,000 families, distributing food, kitchen supplies, hygenic material, clothing, etc., as well as living quarters.
80% of the money that is collected will be sent to the various programs in focus in each of the respective Ecclesial Jurisdictions. In this case, it will be for victims of natural disasters. The remaining 20% will be sent to the SNPS, which also receives aid from the National Emergency Fund in order to attend unforeseeable situations caused by natural phenomena (e.g. floods, earthquakes, avalanches, etc.) or due to violent human actions (e.g. forced exile). (RG) (Agenzia Fides 6/2/2008 Lines: 22 Words: 232)
