Annual Report2015

From our President
On behalf of Caritas Japan, I would like to convey our gratitude to all who encourage and support our efforts. I am sending this report to inform you of our activities overthe past year to assist those in need.
Needless to say, since March 11, 2011, our priority has been to provide assistanceto those people and places affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster. We intend, with special assistance from Catholic Relief Services (the American Caritas), tocontinue to provide a variety of such services.
Of course, we also continue to respond to needs elsewhere, both in Japan andabroad, when natural disasters and violence cause suffering. We also respond to thevoices of those who point out the crisis of climate change and call upon us to reflect urgently upon the meaning of human life in the face of environmental problems. We cannot avoid facing that challenge. In doing so, we must not limit ourselves to tackling
only one aspect of it. We must deal with a broad range of issues, helping people makechoices that enable them to live together in a sustainable way. We at Caritas Japan willcontinue to cooperate in efforts to build a better world.
At last yearʼs General Assembly of Caritas Internationalis, Manilaʼs Cardinal Tagle
was elected president, the first from Asia, while I was re-elected to a second term aspresident of Caritas Asia. Caritas Japan is grateful for your support for our involvementwith the Caritas Internationalis One Human Family, Food for All Campaign initiative
to combat poverty and hunger. Eradicating poverty and fostering sustainable development are long-term challenges that we cannot avoid.
Providing direct assistance to those in need necessarily involves the transformationof society as a whole. Therefore, educational activities aimed at changing our world areessential so that all our brothers and sisters might live full lives. Letʼs reach out ourhands to bring that about.
Bishop Isao Kikuchi
President, Caritas Japan─1─

Lenten Campaign
Each year the Pope issues a Lenten message to deepen Christians understanding of thespirit of the season and to encourage them to conversion works of love. In answer to thiscall, the Catholic Church in Japan calls for Catholics to respond to the Ai no Bokin (lovecollection) in fellowship with those who face oppression, discrimination and abandonment
as well as those whose lives are in crisis. (Catholic Information Handbook 2015)■ Message of Pope Francis for Lent 2016：
I desire mercy, and not sacrifice(Matthew 9:13)■ Lenten Booklet 2016
Circulation: 55,000
Contents: Pope Francisʼ Lenten message, introduction to Caritas-sponsored projects■ Collection box for children
Circulation: 23,000■ Contribution envelopes
Circulation: 63,000

Our Funds
Caritas Japan depends solely on donations from individual donors in Japan and does not receive any public funds or government subsidies. These donations are made either by directcontribution from individual donors or through special collections organized by dioceses, parishes and other institutions.

Amount of total donation 2015

¥521,738,761

Lenten Collection¥68,462,551

For Domestic Assistance¥9,166,369

For Overseas Assistance¥26,815,206

For Overseas Emergencies¥132,627,113

Christmas Donation¥26,210,508

Support for Caritas Japan

¥1,746,119（April 2015 ─ March 2016）

For the Great East Japan Earthquake（ ＊Donation from abroad＊Domestic Donation

─2─

¥256,710,895¥41,289,909¥215,420,986）

Aid Activities
In collaboration with Caritas throughout the world, Caritas Japan supports the independence ofpeople who must face harsh conditions in various places. Priority support is given to people
recovering from disaster or war, and to support for human rights, education, health care and theeradication of poverty, especially where the need is most urgent.

■ Funding for Emergency Appeals (EA) by Caritas Internationalis - 38 projects■ Human Development Projects with Caritas Member Organizations - 25 projects■ Support for grass-roots activities in Japan (incl. emergency response) - 8 projects
ASSISTANCES（April 2015 - March 2016）￥384,091,847

Total FundThe Great East Japan Earthquake

162,421

Within Japan (incl. emergency response)

21,646

9.8％

Asia/Oceania
Asian Partnership
India
MyanmarPhilippines

139,337
794
7,165
6,090
36,973

BangladeshIndonesia
Nepal
Sri Lanka

62.9％
7,284
7,337
15,018AfricaChadEritrea
Malawi
Nigeria
Sudan

34,007
2,760
1,212
1,252
1,401
4,949

Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ethiopia
1,323
Mauritania
1,384
Rwanda2,969
Tanzania
3,724

15.3％
1,243
1,234
1,364
2,419
6,773

1,401

0.6%

11,1085.0％
1,323

14,172

6.4％
5,111
1,318

221,671

100％

9,190
6,502
36,8796,105

Cambodia
Mongolia
Pakistan

GuineaNiger
South Sudan
UgandaLatin America ・Caribbean
Chile
1,401
Middle East
Iraq
Palestine

4,849
2,356

Jordan
Syria

1,210
1,370

LebanonEuropeCI Partnership
Macedonia

3,689
1,318

Croatia
Servia

1,366
1,370

GreeceUkraineTotal Fund（Except the Great East Japan Earthquake）【JPY by the thousand】

Overseas Assistance by sector :Caritas
Internationalis
Emergency Development
Projects
Appeals
34％
66%

Community
Empowerment3%

Caritas Capacity
Building

1%

Education

7%

DRR

6%

Health5%

Peace-building

4%

Rural Development

3%

Migrants and Refugees
Others─3─2%

3%

Aid Activities
Education AssistanceChildren of ethnic minorities or refugees, orphans and members of other socially vulnerable groups as well as those who suffer extreme poverty are not able to receive publiceducation. In order that those children might
receive primary education, assistance isaimed at developing a learning environment
by providing teacher training, textbooks andscholarship grants. Technical training forpoor women and youth is also provided.
(Bangladesh, Mongolia, Cambodia, Rwandaand Haiti）
Disaster Risk Management
To prepare for disasters that might occur inthe future, programs support the development of disaster-resident communities. (Indonesia and Pakistan)
Health Care and Public HealthIn rural areas where primary health care isunavailable or where there is political instability, maternal and child health care aresupported. (Cambodia, Palestine, and Iraq)
Peace Building
Caritas Japan supports efforts among differ-ent ethnic and religious groups to cooperate
in promoting peace. (Sri Lanka and Pakistan)
Agricultural Community Development
AssistanceIn Uganda and Kenya, the effects of climatechange have made the already-difficult livesof agricultural families even worse. Caritas
Japan assists efforts at community organizing to generate income through comprehensive programs to improve peopleʼs lives.
This has included the communal construction of water tanks to collect rainwater forfuture use, an activity that strengthens community bonds. (Uganda and Kenia)
Community Empowerment Assistance
In India, Caritas Japan assists lower-classwomen to regain their rights and become financially independent. (India）Assistance to Migrant Workers and Refugees
Poor people are driven to become migrant
workers in foreign countries in order to support their households. Caritas Japan assists
efforts to protect their rights. In addition,
Caritas Japan supports those who because ofconflict have become internally displaced orrefugees. (Sri Lanka and Jordan)
Report and Study Sessions

Kabale, Uganda

・In Yokohama, 11th graders in Futaba
High Schoolʼs Caritas Group took partin a comprehensive learning session.
・Lecture at Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of International Policy.
・Presentation on “Poverty in the World”
at the National Rally for Justice andPeace in Tokyo.
─4─Social AwarenessIn the world today, people face threats to human rights and life itself. In order topromote awareness of these situations, Caritas Japan sponsors training sessions andseminars as well as publishing booklets that deepen understanding of these challenges.

■Fifty people attending the National Rally for Justice and Peace in Tokyo, September 9, 2015,
heard a lecture by Caritas Japan Director Ko Miyanaga titled “Isolation and suicide – thinking about supporting life.”■Between November 2015 and February 2016, Caritas Japan sponsored a six-session seminar,“Supporting life.”
A total of 50 people took part, of whom 30 completed the entire seminar. In the first threesessions, participants shared in small groups, talking about the challenges of social isolation.
The second half was devoted to learning about early intervention on behalf of those who feel
isolated and suicidal. The themes of the six sessions were:
Being unable to say, “Help me!”Being connected;
Escaping isolation;
Meeting different ideas;
Building supportive friendships;
What we can do.

■Caritas Japan participated in the Third Korea-Japan Suicide Prevention Symposium on December 15, 2015, at Hongik University in Seoul. Three hundred people took part.
■The 10th annual meeting of the 21st Century Christian Social Welfare Activities Conference
was held in February. Yasuhiko Mukaiyachi and others from Bethel House gave a presentation on “Encounters that Echo with Life” to some 200 participants.

─5─

The 20th Caritas Internationalis General Assembly
Every four years, there is a general assembly ofCaritas Internationalis. The most recent gathering of 424
Caritas representatives from 140 countries, was held May 1217, 2015 with the theme “One Human Family, Caring forCreation.”
Prior to the general session, there were several keynote
speeches. On the first day, Father Gustavo Gutierrez, thefather of liberation theology, and Professor Jeffrey Sachs,
director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New
York and noted campaigner against poverty, spoke. On thesecond day, Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Vatican’sPontifical Council for Justice and Peace, addressed thegathering.
Various agenda items were discussed in the general
assembly, and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines
was elected president, the first president from Asia. The
assembly approved a framework and funding plan for action
policies for the next four years.
Under the title “Hearing the cries of the poor,” theframework of activities policy intends to embody the call ofPope Francis to be a “poor church for the poor” by following
five directions:

1 Caritas at the heart of the Church:
Uphold the Christian identity of Caritas as an essential service of the Church to thepoor.
2 Save lives, rebuild communities:
Reduce the impact of humanitarian crises by enhancing disaster preparedness and response.
3 Promote sustainable integral human development:
Eradicate poverty in all its forms by empowering people and transforming unjust systems and structures.
4 Build global solidarity:
Address the causes of extreme poverty through strengthened communication, educationand mobilisation, and enhance the visibility of Caritas.
5 Make the Caritas confederation more effective:
Build a stronger confederation based on professional and effective members guided by“formation of the heart”., and mobilise more resources.
─6─

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of JapanCARITAS JAPANJapan Catholic Center 10-10 Shiomi 2-Chome Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-8585
Phone: 81-3-5632-4439 Fax: 81-3-5632-4464
E-mail: secretariat@caritas.jp

http://www.caritas.jp＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊For your donations
P.O. Savings Transfer Account : 00170 ─ 5 ─ 95979 カリタスジャパン＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

2016.9
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