CACD Retreat

Two years ago, the Catholic NGOs operating in Phnom Penh were organized within the diocese as the Catholic Alliance for Charity and Development in order for the disparate groups to better serve the poor and to present a unified face of the Catholic Church to society. Today the CACD had its last meeting of the year which is a half-dray of retreat and reflection.

Bishop Olivier opened this session, the fourth of the year. In the beginning two years ago, just eight or nine NGOs were represented but now about twenty different groups participate in the quarterly meetings. The main speaker and the presenter of the reflection was Fr. Totet, SJ, who gave a very clear summary of Pope Benedict's social encyclical Caritas in Veritate and located it in the continuum of social encyclicals since 1831. The participants were divided into two smaller groups for a short discussion and then each group reported. Sr. Luise Ahrens handled the reporting task for Group 1. Ratanna, the director of Caritas Cambodia, where the meeting was held, was the reporter for Group 2. After the reflection and before we went downstairs to eat together, the participants posed for a group photograph.

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