Monsignor Robert J. Vitillo Caritas Internationalis 20 May 2015 - Geneva

1. Response of the Holy See, Caritas Internationalis and other Catholic Church-Related Organizations to the Ebola Epidemic in coastal West Africa: Crisis and Opportunities Monsignor Robert J. Vitillo Caritas Internationalis 20 May 2015 - Geneva

2. Health centers and clinics were gravely affected!

3. Caritas Some Victims at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Monrovia

4. Contributions of Caritas and other Catholic Organizations at national, diocesan and local levels Caritas While governments and inter-governmental organizations struggled to mount a coordinated response, Caritas and other religious organizations responded immediately and effectively to this crisis, at local, national, regional, and local levels by:

5. Training by local staff and international volunteers at Catholic health clinic in rural Dolotown

6. Securing, from international Church-related donors, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), medications, and funds for risk incentive pay for staff

7. Advocating for greater support from national and local governments and from the international community

8. Community awareness and outreach is key

9. A “survivor”, Dr Fanta, speaking on Radio Veritas about her experience Recovered patients can be important assets in Community-based training Programs and in confronting Stigma and Discrimination

10. Providing material and pastoral assistance to those unable to provide for their daily sustenance (in particular, those in 21-day quarantine)

11. Accompanying families and neighbours as they mourned those who died, and facilitating the re-integration of those who have recovered from the disease

12. Assisting WHO to revise what formerly was called its “Dead Body Management Policy” into its “Guidelines for Safe and Dignified Burials” andand Implementing them in the field

13. Caritas What is Caritas Internationalis (CI)? Catholic Church-based confederation of 165 national member oorganizationss engaged in social service, development, humanitarian assistance, and advocacy, operating in every region of the world, active in 200 countries and territories; 7 regional secretariats; 3 Delegations to UN (in New York, Geneva and Vienna); General Secretariat in Vatican City Under the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, CI has a special status and thus is expected to coordinate closely with the Holy See.

14. Caritas • Caritas Internationalis launched 5 Emergency appeals (Eas) to assist the responses of Caritas organizations in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia: • OCPH-Caritas Guinea: • 1st emergency phase (April-September 2014) • Budget: approx. EUR 160,000 (100% financed). • 2nd emergency phase (September 2014-february 2015) Budget: approx. EUR 480,000 (100% financed). • Caritas Sierra Leone: • 1st emergency phase (August-December 2014) • Budget: approx. EUR 270,000 (130% financed). • 2nd emergency phase (January-September 2015) launched on December 23, 2014 Budget: approx. EUR 950.000 so far more than 25% financed. • Caritas Liberia: • 1st emergency phase (Octobre 2014-March 2015) , now being revised (Janvier-june 2015) • Budget: approx. EUR 900.000 (more than 75% % finacned).

15. Holy See – Special Initiative in response to Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Coastal West Africa At the specific request of Pope Francis to Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and while affirming the efforts already being demonstrated through a wide range of Church-inspired activities and encouraging additional initiatives along these lines, the Holy See decided to offer its own commitments and recommendations for an enhanced response to Ebola through a direct grant of 500 000 Euro. Moreover, additional support is being invited for these efforts by Catholic Church-inspired structures and people of good will.

16. Holy See – Special Initiative in response to Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Coastal West Africa • Through the centuries, the Church has worked to strengthen local communities so that people of all backgrounds could enjoy the dignity that God has instilled in each and every person and so that they might have life and have it to the full. In this regard, the Church is a trusted institution. • Health Care - While governments, inter-governmental agencies, and international aid agencies are specifically supporting Ebola treatment in the affected countries, the Church’s health facilities are addressing the health care needs of the general population.

17. Holy See – Special Initiative in response to Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Coastal West Africa Financial support to strengthen the following: • Church-related health structures • This funding will support, inter alia, the following to enhance health care, as well as prevention of transmission of Ebola among staff and other patients: • Protective supplies • Medications • Building changes • Personnel • Transport vehicles for patients

18. Holy See – Special Initiative in response to Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Coastal West Africa Pastoral Response – • The Church has unique capacity and mandate to attend to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of those who are sick and suffering. Some in the Church are called to serve as “doctors of the body” but others receive the call to serve as “doctors of the soul”. • While public health regulations may prevent the minister from direct touch of Ebola patients, we should not avoid contact with such persons and must offer our spiritual closeness in ways that will bring them and their family members comfort and hope. • It is the responsibility of priests and other pastoral caregivers to challenge reactions of stigmatizing and rejection and to recall the basic religious teachings in this regard.

19. Holy See – Special Initiative in response to Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Coastal West Africa Financial support to strengthen the following: • Pastoral Response • This funding will be used to: • train and support clergy, Religious, lay pastoral workers, and catechists so that they in turn can train parishioners and • local community residents • develop training materials

20. Holy See – Special Initiative in response to Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Coastal West Africa Communiy Response: • With specific regard to the situation of Ebola, community outreach, much of it centred in the local parishes, is a most important means to provide education to prevent the further spread of the virus. • Another key aspect of the parish contribution to the Ebola response is the fact that this is seen as a trusted institution in local communities – a place where direct, honest, and credible information is transmitted to parishioners.

21. Holy See – Special Initiative in response to Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Coastal West Africa • Community Response • This funding will be used to: • train parishioners and residents of local communities on the • behavioural changes necessary to stop the spread of Ebola; • provide food and hygiene kits at household level • support families who are under observation for • possible infection with Ebola to access adequate nutrition and other essential needs • support orphans and other children and families with special needs • support the re-opening of Catholic schools

22. What is the “comparative advantage”and needs of FBO responses to Ebola Viral Disease? • FBOs are in the communities before the crisis and will be there after the international NGOs and foreign governmental experts have left; • We need access to funding and resources in accord with the burden of care that we shoulder’ • We treat the whole person and the whole family and there is usually no question of a “silo” approach among faith-based health and social care providers because often we are the only service providers in the area; • We serve without discrimination – we don’t have to ask about “gender identity” or sexual orientation or marital state – we serve all; • Our calling to serve comes from above – as the Latin saying goes, “Caritas Christi urget nos” (“The love of Christ motivates us”)

23. Pope Francis articulates the mission of the Church in reponse to Ebola Virus disease and other health crises when he speaks of : … the need for integral care, that considers the person in his entirety, and that unites medical care – ‘technical care’ [with] a human, psychological and social support, because the physician must care for all: the human body, with its psychological, social and spiritual dimension; as well as the spiritual accompaniment and support for the family members of the sick person … Brotherly sharing with the sick opens us to the true beauty of human life, including its fragility, helping us to recognize the dignity and the value of every human being, in whatever condition he or she may find himself, from conception to death. Pope Francis, Address to a Congress of Oncological Surgeons, 11 April 2014, http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-to-physicians-never-lose-sight-of-the-spiritu

24. Pope Francis appeals for aid to stop Ebola Virus Disease (EVD)General Audience29 October 2014 In the face of the worsening Ebola epidemic, I would like to express my deep concern about this relentless disease that is spreading especially on the African continent, especially among the more disadvantaged groups. I am close with love and prayer to those stricken, as well as to the doctors, nurses, volunteers, religious institutes and associations, who are working heroically to help our sick brothers and sisters. I renew my appeal that the International Community exert all necessary effort to weaken this virus, effectively alleviating the hardship and suffering of all those so sorely tried. I invite you to pray for them and for those who have lost their lives. http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20141029_udienza-generale.html

25. Caritas