1. Logo Caritas Việt Nam/ Caritas Đà Lạt  (Regulations, Article 4)

The Logo is composed of the Holy Cross with flames spreading all around, and under this image appears the name Caritas Vietnam / Caritas Đà Lạt.

Very many Caritas organizations have used this symbol with the following meaning: the Holy Cross is the center of all charitable activities as Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is the ultimate act of love which He realized for God and men.

The vertical portion of the Holy Cross represents the solidarity between God and men and the horizontal portion represents responsibility of men for each other (1 Jn 4: 20-21). These two portions are necessarily joined to each other. The flames spreading from the Holy Cross reveal the effect of the Holy Spirit: “The love of Christ compels me” (2 Co 5:14). He compels all Caritas members to carry out charitable work to serve others.

  1. Caritas Da Lat
  • Caritas Da Lat is a diocesan member of Caritas Vietnam.
  • Caritas Da Lat was granted a license to re-operate by the state with the decision No. 7816/UBND-NC, dated October 20, 2009.
  • Father Paul Duong Cong Ho was the first director from 2008 to 2012. Father John Bosco Hoang Van Chinh succeeded from 2012 to present.
  • Caritas Da Lat currently has a deanery and parish level
  1. Caritas’ spirituality

'Caritas' is Latin, meaning: charity, great love. Caritas is an organization in the Catholic Church whose mission is to coordinate and promote the practice of social charity. Therefore, Caritas is not a purely social charity organisation, nor do Caritas members do charity work with the same motivations and intentions or ways as a social worker. Like all Church activity, Caritas' activity must be motivated by the Holy Spirit. Thus, Caritas has a 'spirituality' to guide the life of a social worker. Living “Caritas spirituality” is living under the influence of the Holy Spirit, who causes them to participate faithfully and confidently in Christ's mission to love everyone, especially the poor, suffering, illness, abandoned people. The Word, tradition, and the Catholic’s teaching on social are the source of Caritas spirituality.

Caritas Việt Nam’s spirituality

As Vietnamese, we inherit the national moral tradition that upholds filial piety, the love in the family, among villagers, neighborhood, compatriot love, mutual affection, 'good leaves protect torn leaves', respect for harmony and community activities. Caritas members cherish those cultural traits and make them more beautiful by living their spirituality. Caritas spirituality shows people the path to holiness by living and embodying the love of the Trinity in Vietnamese society today by the light and strength of the Holy Spirit.

The foundation of this spirituality is the love of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. "God is love. Everything is rooted in the love of God, everything is shaped by that love, and everything is oriented towards that love.” To understand God's love, Caritas Vietnam members are invited to contemplate and imitate Jesus Christ, the embodiment of God's love on earth. In Him we recognize:

An Incarnate God who is always ready to come out of himself:

  • Ready to be humbled himself and self-emptying
  • Identifying himself with lowly people
  • For human that can be children of God

A Communion God:

  • To be One with the Father and the Holy Spirit
  • “Breaking down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh.” (Ep 2,14)
  • To gather mankind into the family of God

A Loving God who decided to be the poor:

  • Closing to sinners and the poor
  • Sacrified himself to death on the cross
  • For all might “have life and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10,10)

It is very important that members live in union with Jesus Christ, in particular, encountering Him in the Eucharist, so that He renews their hearts and moves them to be messengers of love and witness to His Gospel. Caritas members are active in opening the Kingdom of God everywhere and for everyone, but Caritas especially serves the poor, materially and spiritually poor. Charity in Caritas, which inherits the tradition of practicing charity and is based on the social doctrine of the Church, is an organized charity within the structure of the local Church as well as the universal Church.

  1. Mission
  • Committed for the development of the people, especially for the poor in Lam Dong province, comprehensively and sustainably.
  • Pro - life, building a humane community and taking care of the environment.
  • Live a witness of love through the exercise of charityThe spirit of self-reliance 7
  1. Core Values:
  • The spirit of self-reliance
  • Participatory
  • Harmony with God, people and nature
  • Justice and Love
  1. Patron: Saint Therese Calcutta date 5/9
  2. Organisation chart:

  1. Our work

Caritas Dalat seeks and serves people, especially those who are physically and mentally poor, vulnerable, abandoned, or marginalized, ethnic minorities. Currently, Caritas Dalat has the following programs: 

  • Coordinating the Caritas network
  • Charity activities: loving rice bowl, health care, study promotion, house repair...
  • Pro - Life Program
  • Laudato Si: The program to take care of the common home
  • Saving-Microcredit program
  • Program to support people with disabilities to integrate into the community
  • Program to support mentally ill people in Trong Duc social protection facility
  • People Led Development Program                                             
  1. Contact us and Donation:

COMMISSION ON CHARITY AND SOCIAL ACTION - CARITAS ĐÀ LẠT

  • Address: 51A Vạn Kiếp - Ward 8 - Đà Lạt - Lâm Đồng - Việt Nam
  • Tel: +84 (263) 3511 185,
  • Email: vpbaxhdl@gmail.com or caritasdalat@gmail.com

DONATION

Even a very little of your contributions today help us to change the lives of  many in the  future:

  • Account name: Commission on Charity and social action - Caritas Đà Lạt
  • Account number: 1025744828
  • Bank: Vietcombank, Dalat branch

10. Terms and introductory images:

  • CVN: Caritas Việt Nam
  • CDL: Caritas Đà Lạt
  • PwD: People with Disability
  • PLD: People Led Development.
  • Learning exchange Platform:
    • M: Caritas network, K: Disability, C: Community, S: Groups already have products.
    • LEP: Learning Exchange Platform
    • MLEP: Learning exchange Platform for Caritas network
    • KLEP: Learning exchange Platform Learning exchange Platform for People with Disability
    • SLEP: Learning exchange Platform for Groups already have products
    • CLEP: Learning exchange Platform for Communities
  • PAR: Participatory Action Research.
  • CFGS: “Caritas’ Farmers Guarantee System”