Cardinal Rodriguez at the 2008 World Youth Day in Australia. Credit: James Alcock/Caritas Australia
Read an account in America Magazine
Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga says that young people have a central role in eradicating poverty through voluntary and community action.
The Caritas Internationalis President is speaking at an event at the United Nations on 24 September on how young people can be given the tools to transform society for the common good.
Cardinal Rodriguez says, “Caritas is reliant on young people as volunteers after natural disasters, in our advocacy campaigns and in providing social services to the poor. We look with hope and confidence to young people to seek the truth, to stand up for justice and to discover new ways of doing things. In return, they look to us for support and a sense of purpose. And too often, we are letting them down.”
The Cardinal urges the international community to support the family and educational institutes, to provide employment opportunities for the young and to respond to their idealism that another world is possible, based on solidarity rather than greed.
“The Empowering Youth to be Agents of Change in Eradicating Poverty” was co-sponsored by the Holy See UN Mission, the Honduran UN Mission, Caritas Internationalis and the Salesians of Don Bosco.
Read the full text: “Youth as agents of change to eradicate poverty”
