OUR MISSION

The Episcopal Vicariate of Human Promotion-Caritas is the branch of the Church of San Salvador that is designed to combat poverty and its consequences. As such, our mission includes an analysis of the causes of poverty and raises awareness among the faithful, when faced with structural injustice and social sin. We work on behalf of all men and women of goodwill in the Archdiocese, who are guided by the Catholic Social teaching as has been taught by our pastor Monsignor Jose Luis Escobar Alas, the Metropolitan Archbishop of San Salvador.

Naturally, our job includes responding to the immediate needs of the poor. However, these demands are not exclusive to material needs, for they also include psychological support, consolation and spiritual direction. In order to complete our mission, we not only depend on the Vicariate, but on the collaboration of hundreds of priests, religious people and above all else thousands of laity.

The pastoral strategy of the Episcopal Vicariate of Human Promotion-Caritas is mainly based on charity. In this new era, our challenge is to empower the poor to become their own voice and we do this by means of participation and generating solidarity between the poor and the affluent. The creation of this solidarity is part of an important biblical tradition in the Church; it is reflected in the modern Catholic Social Teachings of Pope John XXIII. In addition, it reflects the pastoral dreams of Archdioceses since the era of Archbishop Luis Chavez and Gonzalez. Yet, even more deeply, the thirst for justice and empowerment of the poor is rooted in our baptism and woven through the structure of our Catholic faith.

The Episcopal Vicariate of Human Promotion-Caritas includes in its operational staff, agronomists, lawyers, social workers, doctors, engineers, administrators and men and women from different social classes and professions. However, with all our differences, and we certainly do face distinct challenges, we share a common commitment to several principles rooted in Catholic social teaching. Which are the following:

1) Every human being is created in the image and likeness of God. We are very clear in our belief that human life is sacred and must be preserved from conception until natural death.

2) God is present in all men and women. God is present in the gesture of the wealthy man who gives to the poor and in the poor who receive this assistance. However, since the early days of the church, the poor and vulnerable have a special place in Catholic social teaching. It is clear that the moral test of a society is based on how it treats the poor and vulnerable. The Vicariate places the needs of this brothers and sisters as a pastoral priority.

3) Regardless of the specific objectives that are being promoted in the different departments of the Vicariate, in all circumstances we are interested in uplifting the poor and promoting their right to participate as actors in their own destiny. We are against strategies that create dependency. In Catholic Social Teaching, the causes of poverty are understood as an aspect of “social sin” rooted in our social structures, economic structures and institutions. In this sense, our work has much to do with the communities of the poor in all our endeavors: health, housing agriculture, etc.

4) We adhere to the principle of subsidiarity, one of the ten principles that contributed to the reform of canon law in the church. Even before the reform of Church Law, Pious XII gave great attention to freedom and dignity, noting that in the midst of structures and organizations these tenets should not be suppressed.

5) The principle of subsidiarity was designed to ensure the independence, initiative, and strength of individuals through the community, and small groups vis-à-vis larger ones. People have the fundamental right to life and everything that makes life truly human. No one should have to sacrifice these rights in order to ensure the need for food, clothing, housing, health, education, security, social services and employment-eater to one another, our families or society in general.