Caritas Indonesia: hope and care for creation at the centre of its 2025 meeting

by Mathias Hariyadi

The Karina Foundation held its biennial meeting in Jakarta from 21 to 24 May at the headquarters of the Bishops' Conference. The event brought together operators, bishops and international partners to boost the commitment to cooperation and integral human development. Fr Fredy Rante Taruk highlighted “working closely with government stakeholders”.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Caritas Indonesia’s 2025 National Network Meeting was held from 21 to 24 May at the headquarters of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Indonesia (KWI), in central Jakarta.

The biennial meeting brought together the main actors of the Catholic Church's humanitarian network to renew their commitment to cooperation, environmental justice and inclusive development across Indonesia. The theme echoed the Jubilee motto with hope at its centre.

The event fostered spiritual and strategic reflection, with participants urged to deepen their shared mission of mercy and solidarity.

“The National Meeting is a vital opportunity to nurture synergy and strengthen the spirit of fraternal cooperation among diocesan Caritas offices nationwide,” said Emeritus Bishop Aloysius Sudarso SCJ, Chairman of the Karina Foundation’s Governing Board.

“This spirit must guide our efforts in disaster response and long-term humanitarian programmes,” he added.

Now in the third year of the 2023-2027 Strategic Plan, Caritas Indonesia's commitment is more on green initiatives.

During the event, the dioceses presented their best practices for the care of Creation, in line with Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si'.

“These ecological programmes reflect our commitment to care for our common home,” Bishop Sudarso said, expressing hope that the meeting would generate follow-up actions to scale up environmental work across the country.

In his speech, Executive Director Fr Fredy Rante Taruk emphasised the importance of aligning Caritas’s programmes with Indonesia's national development goals.

“We are committed to working closely with government stakeholders at all levels, ensuring that our humanitarian services contribute meaningfully to the social fabric and resilience of communities,” he said.

The meeting also addressed critical issues such as the role of women in building the resilience of indigenous communities, human trafficking, the plight of migrants and the importance of nutrition and public health programmes.

The event was attended by the bishops who serve as administrators in Caritas Indonesia, the directors of all diocesan Caritas and the Commissions for Social and Economic Development (PSE), religious congregations and programme coordinators from all over the country.

External partners also joined in, including representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Disaster Management Authority (BNPB), the Indonesia Humanitarian Forum (HFI) and the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Indonesia.

International partners from the Caritas Internationalis network were also present, including Caritas Asia, Caritas Germany, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Caritas Australia, and Caritas Timor Leste.

The partners reiterated their support for Caritas Indonesia's mission and its role in promoting inclusive compassion and integral human development.

Caritas Indonesia, also known as the Karina Foundation, was established in 2006 as the official humanitarian agency of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Indonesia, part of the global confederation of Caritas Internationalis, which includes 162 national Caritas organisations of the Catholic Church.

Working in areas such as disaster response, climate change adaptation, health and nutrition, protection of migrants and victims of trafficking, Caritas Indonesia serves communities across the archipelago with a mission rooted in Catholic social teaching and the evangelical call to love and serve.

The 2025 national meeting reaffirmed Caritas Indonesia's role as a key player in both the Church and society, committed to working together with communities, governments, and global partners to build a more just and compassionate world.