Tirsdag 11. november ble det holdt en offisiell mottagelse i Oslo Rådhus i anledning Caritas Norges 50-årsjubileum. Kardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga SDB, president i Caritas Internationalis, holdt følgende tale.
Distinguished friends, my dear brothers and sisters, I greet you very warmly on behalf of Caritas Internationalis, the global confederation of Catholic aid agencies, working on humanitarian aid and development.
Thank you for the kind welcome to Norway and to the Oslo City Hall. We're here today to celebrate half a century of Caritas Norway and its work on behalf of the poor.
A few weeks ago I was in Rome at a ceremony to mark the beatification of pope Paul VI. As pope Francis said "For us, Paul VI was the great light."
We remember him especially in Caritas Internationalis. He was our founding father and his encyclical Popolorum Progressio continues to inspire our mission.
Blessed Pope Paul VI said in that encyclical that peace is not just "the absence of warfare", but the establishment of a "more perfect form of justice" among men and women.
It feels particularly appropriate to repeat those words here today.
Norway is celebrated for its role in brokering peace. It is also here in City Hall that so many remarkable people have come to receive their Nobel Peace Prizes. And we are celebrating 50 years of Caritas Norway, a champion of peace and social justice throughout the world.
Caritas International means "love between peoples". Building peace has always been a cornerstone of our efforts. Caritas Norway has been a leading light, playing a key role in peace processes in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
As Blessed Pope Paul VI said, "If you want peace work for justice."
When it comes to the fight against poverty, Norway is a far larger actor than the size of its population would indicate. It should be applauded as one of the few nations which spends about 1 percent of its annual budget on foreign aid.
In the same way, Caritas Norway is small in size, but has had great influence in the Caritas family. Caritas Norway helped develop our ideas on partnership and make it one of our central values.
They helped pioneer our work on HIV and AIDS from the early days of the pandemic. They worked with Caritas organizations in Latin America to promote the role of women as driving forces in integral human development.
In the countries where they're present, Caritas Norway has a reputation for promoting human rights, democracy and the dignity of each individual.
Thank you all for the effort you have put in to make Caritas Norway into the fantastic organization it is today, stronger than it's ever been before.
Congratulations on your 50th anniversary and God bless your work.
+Oscar Andres Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga S.D.B.
President of Caritas International November 2014