THE chairman of Catholic Social Services Australia (CSSA) has called for a new partnership between Church, community services and governments in Australia “to create a genuinely fairer and better world for all to enjoy”.
Fr Joe Caddy, who is also chief executive officer of Centacare Melbourne, said there was great potential to resolve the many concerns in society through the rediscovery of the notion of partnership.
He was speaking at the National Colloquium for Catholic Bioethicists’ Public Forum on Pregnancy Counselling at the Thomas Carr Centre in Melbourne on January 28.
Fr Caddy said 2000 years after the Good Samaritan story was first told, not much had changed in society with too many people prepared to turn a blind eye to those in need.
He said while it was true that, unlike some providers, Catholic agencies were involved in health, education and welfare services for reasons other than making money, the motivation for Church agencies in undertaking social services was not to manipulate the lives of service users, but rather, in the spirit of the Good Samaritan, to extend the mission of service to those in need.
CSSA comprises 63 member organisations providing about 500 services to more than 1 million Australians each year.
In addition, there is the work of the St Vincent de Paul Society, Catholic hospitals and health care, education and the many unsung initiatives of parishes and religious orders.
Fr Caddy said these services did not exist to provide social services exclusively to Catholics.
