Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Madrid (Agenzia Fides) – Caritas declared that it has received nearly 600,000 petitions for emergency aid in 2008, double the number in 2007. In several regions particularly affected by growing unemployment, such as in Andalucia, the petitions increased by 70% between 2007 and 2008. The majority of the petitions for urgent aid are the for basic needs like food, housing, and healthcare, but also for work training, clothing, and credit for people with economic problems, books, and school materials. The age of those in difficulty varies between 20 and 40 years of age and includes small children, unemployed, single mothers, homeless, elderly women without retirement funds, and illegal immigrants.
Caritas Secretary General Silverio Agea denounced “a serious lack of responsibility on the part of public social services” in facing the crisis, declaring that 52% of the people who go to Caritas do so encouraged by the public administration. The charitable organizations' objective is to collaborate with, not substitute, the government's work in the area of public services.
According to Caritas, a fund of 2 billion Euros would be enough to establish a network of social protection for families without income. The current Caritas network in Spain has nearly 6,000 offices, 56,000 volunteers, and 4,400 employees. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 16/7/2009)
