Caritas Portugal

Cáritas Portuguesa
Established	1945; 79 years ago (1945)
Founder	Fernanda Mendes de Almeida Ivens Ferraz Jardim, 1º President (Countess of Valenças)
Type	Nonprofit
Registration no.	500291756
Legal status	Religious institution
Purpose	social work, social policy, humanitarian aid, development aid
Headquarters	Praça Pasteur, nº
Location	Lisbon, Portugal
Coordinates	38°44′28″N 9°08′09″W / 38.74106°N 9.13596°W / 38.74106; -9.13596
President	Rita Valadas [1]
Affiliations	Caritas Internationalis, Caritas Europa
Website	www.caritas.pt

Caritas Portugal ( Portuguese: Cáritas Portuguesa) is the official Catholic Church organization in Portugal for charity and social relief, instituted by the Portuguese Episcopal Conference.

Caritas Portuguesa was founded in 1945, with its first statutes approved in 1956.

From the 1950s to mid-1970s, its activities focused primarily on the distribution of food to the Portuguese population, donated by the United States, and the hosting of children from Central European countries in the aftermath of World War II and the beginning of Cold War tensions.

Organization

Caritas Portugal is a Portuguese confederation of Catholic relief, development and social service organizations operating in Portugal. Caritas Portugal consists of 20 regional member organizations known as dioceses.

The organization's national headquarters are located in Lisbon; from there it provides general assistance to the regional dioceses.

See also

• Caritas Internationalis
• Caritas Europa

References

External links

• Official website (in Portuguese)