EUROPE/SPAIN - Support for an alternative model for the regional economy developed by Caritas

Cordoba (Agenzia Fides) - The Bishops of southern Spain, who met in Cordoba for the Ordinary General Assembly on 19 and 20 May, expressed their support for an "alternative economic model" developed by Caritas in order to promote social economy projects.
As reported in the note sent to Fides by Odisur, "due to the crisis we are experiencing and the need to take actions that promote the integration of disadvantaged groups, the Bishops worked with representatives of the regional Caritas on the promotion of social economy projects seen as a different economic and alternative model to the current model, in which the person is the most important thing".
In detail it is "the implementation of business initiatives whose ultimate aim is not profit, but to promote the employment of people in situations of social exclusion". In fact, in the dioceses of Andalusia "there are several projects for social economy, mostly in agriculture and recycling".
The Assembly of Bishops of Southern Spain also listened to a report on the service that the Church offers to the sick, the elderly and people with physical problems, presented by His Exc. Mgr. José Mazuelos Pérez, Bishop of Jerez de la Frontera, who stressed the importance of chaplains in hospitals and the awareness of families in the accompaniment of the sick and elderly. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 21/05/2015)