Portuguese Caritas has issued a press release to present its National Charity Day that, by decision of the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference, coincides with the 3rd Sunday of Lent. “For dignity and equal opportunity” is the theme Caritas has submitted to the reflection of all Portuguese and those who have chosen Portugal to find a more dignified future for themselves and their families. “We may pretend not to know – says the communiqué – but the data, in their crudity, are well known: in 2005, 20% of the wealthier population in Portugal received an income 8.2 times more than the 20% of the less well off population: an inequality 67.3% higher than the European Community average, given that in the other 27 countries the inequality index stands at 4.9%”. “We may pretend not to know that 2 million of our fellow-citizens are now living below the poverty threshold”. “We may pretend not to see that in the corners of our big cities, especially in those on the coast, there are ever more destitute men and women who shelter from the cold, from the rain and from the shame of being reduced to beggars”. “We may pretend not to hear the embittered outbursts of the elderly living in solitude, the cries of despair of migrants without work, the frustration of the young who fail to find a first job, or the distress of those who fail to gain access to effective healthcare”. If the State seems unable to respond to these social disparities – says Portuguese Caritas – then it must be society that shows its willingness to help build a new age. The Caritas message stigmatises “indifference as one of the greatest injustices” of our time, and ends by appealing to the generosity of Portuguese Christians, reminding them that “the practice of charity and the promotion of justice are a basic need of the expression of faith and an innate duty of the Church”.
