Diocesan charities must be Catholic

Pope calls on bishops to run their organizations better

This Catholic News Agency story says Pope Benedict XVI has released an apostolic letter on charitable activities that asks bishops to improve their supervision of local charities and ensure that these groups' work does not contradict Catholic teaching.

The Pope's six-page "motu proprio" letter, released Dec. 1, notes the duty of the diocesan bishops and parish priests to see that in charitable service the faithful "are not led into error or misunderstanding."

"Above all it's important to remember that practical actions are never enough," he said.

The Pope had specific praise for the international Catholic charity Caritas Internationalis, which works in disaster relief and in human development. He said that Caritas is an organization that has earned the esteem and trust of people around the world for its "generous and consistent witness of faith and ability to respond to the needs of the poor."

For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.