During a meeting held these days in the Indonesian capital, the Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis, Alistair Dutton, highlighted the devastating effects of climate change on vulnerable communities. Caritas Indonesia, which was created in response to a natural disaster, as Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo said, continues its efforts against malnutrition and human trafficking.
Jakarta () – At a meeting held in Jakarta on October 25, the Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis, Alistair Dutton, warned of the increasingly serious consequences of climate change, which is fueling climate migration and could also have dramatic effects in Indonesia. Arriving from Rome, Dutton met with Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo, President of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference and leader of Caritas Indonesia (Karina KWI), underscoring the need to address this global emergency.
“We are used to talking about migration in economic terms, which actually affects a small number of people,” Dutton said. On the contrary, “thousands or even millions of people are potentially affected by climate change, which makes the planet an increasingly uninhabitable place,” he continued, adding that with less and less fertile land and dwindling resources, the risk of migration large-scale forced violence becomes inevitable.
Indonesia is also especially vulnerable, as it is located on the “Ring of Fire”, a geographical area prone to frequent volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. During the meeting, Cardinal Suharyo explained how Caritas Indonesia was established in 2006 in response to a natural disaster: at that time, the archdiocese of Semarang, in the Yogyakarta region, mobilized to bring aid after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake which claimed more than 5,700 lives and caused $3.1 billion in damage.
Thanks to the support of local parishes and the leadership of the late Bishop Johannes Pujasumarta – “a priest with a strong spirit of compassion for others,” as Suharyo called him – an emergency response network was established, leading to the creation of Caritas Semarang, locally known as Karina KAS.
“Special thanks to Monsignor Pius Riana Prapdi, current bishop of Ketapang, who was then vicar general of the archdiocese and who contributed significantly to the founding of Caritas Semarang,” Suharyo added.
The meeting between Dutton and Suharyo represented a new boost to the collaboration between Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Indonesia in the management of humanitarian crises and the implementation of disaster mitigation measures, working for a safer and more dignified future for Indonesian citizens and migrants. . Also present at the meeting were Bishop Aloysius Sudarso, President Emeritus of Caritas Indonesia, Executive Director Fr. Freddy Rante Taruk, and several staff members.
Recently, Caritas Indonesia launched a program to combat malnutrition on the island of Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), which resulted in the distribution of food packages to 373 mothers and children and six pregnant women of the diocese of Weetebula. Furthermore, as explained by Father Freddy Rante Taruk, the foundation actively participates in the implementation of plans to combat human trafficking, a phenomenon that especially affects Indonesian migrant workers.
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