It’s the Catholic Church’s best-kept secret – but now, David Cameron could be about to change all that. Because – according to Helen O’Brien, incoming chief executive of the Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN) - the new government is making all the right moves towards putting the Church’s domestic social justice work, whose interests her organisation represents, on the map once and for all.
‘The work done by Catholic Church organisations to help the under-privileged, the elderly and others in need in our society is a well-kept secret – it’s nothing like as well-recognised as it should be, and it makes a huge difference to many thousands of lives,’ says O’Brien, who took up her post last month. But David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ could, she feels, be just the thing to help it towards better recognition.
The work done by Catholic Church organisations to help the under-privileged, the elderly and others in need in our society is a well-kept secret – it’s nothing like as well-recognised as it should be‘I’m interested in the Big Society and I think it’s quite helpful that the government is talking about the common good. Because if they are talking about it in the same way that we’re talking about it, then I think we’re going to find ways of working together. We’ve got common ground.’
‘It is’, agrees O’Brien, a mother of two grown-up children who made the move from personnel to management consultant, and got more and more pulled into working with Catholic organisations, ‘a hugely exciting time to be taking the helm at CSAN, which is based at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference offices in central London.’ No-one denies for a minute, of course, that funding for the 34 organisations she represents will be tough in the months and years ahead: ‘but the thing to keep in mind’, she says, ‘is what outstanding value they represent to the wider community’.
Unlike many organisations that seek to take value (ie profit) out of their work, the Catholic groups under her umbrella are not profit-making, and are seeking instead only to add value to the lives of the people they serve. ‘Our members, who range from the St Vincent de Paul Society through the Cardinal Hume Centre in London, church adoption services and a whole range of other services, give tremendous value to our society – not only are a lot of funds being raised from our community, but there’s a huge amount of voluntary work being ploughed in as well.’
Raising the profile of the Church’s vast, and often unacknowledged, contribution to services for the elderly, the disadvantaged, and for families and many others, will be a big part of O’Brien’s work in the years ahead. Connected to that is advocacy, another important task for her. ‘We see ourselves as the voice for the Catholic Church’s domestic charities on issues which relate to Catholicity,’ she says. ‘For example, CSAN did its best to present the Catholic line on gay adoption during the recent row over whether church agencies should be forced to go against church teaching, and place children with homosexual couples.’ It was, O’Brien admits, a tough issue. ‘It was a clash of two moral rights – on the one hand there was the right of people to be treated equally, and on the other hand the right of Catholic families to see their children adopted in the Catholic faith.’ She thinks the eventual result – which led to most of the Catholic agencies either stopping being involved in adoptions, or changing their religious status – was ‘sad’. ‘What happened was completely disproportionate to the problem – and the result is that excellent work has been stopped, and there are children who are probably going to miss out because services have been cut.’
We are the voice for the Catholic Church’s domestic charities in the UKAre there more state v church battles on the agenda? ‘One never knows what’s ahead’, says O’Brien, but what she notices more is the huge respect there is for church organisations and the work they do. ‘At the moment it feels as though there’s a lot of respect for faith, and I think that could lead to some really useful relationships.’ CSAN runs regular seminars for MPs at Westminster, keeping them across developments in Catholic social teaching and trying to ensure that issues of importance in the Catholic community are kept on the political agenda.
What’s the biggest contribution, in her view, that Catholic social organisations have to offer? ‘The truth is that, when you look at the vulnerable groups our organisations tend to work with, there’s always a degree of loneliness and isolation – and I think what the people in our organisations mostly offer is friendship. Befriending those in need is one of the most important things that any of us can do – having a friend makes a huge difference to a life.’
I think what the people in our organisations mostly offer is friendshipAs well as advocating on behalf of its members, CSAN also works to develop links between member organisations – and strengthening these links, so that Catholic social organisations have a voice that’s better heard in the UK, is another of O’Brien’s ambitions. ‘There’s so much fantastic work going on out there, and people need to know where they can find us and what we’re about,’ she says.
Sharing information between different Catholic groups, and also providing workshops, for example, theological discussions, is the other important strand of CSAN’s work. ‘Where you have a Catholic organisation that’s providing excellent service, and is really a model of excellence, you need to be able to share it with other organisations in the same field,’ says O’Brien. She’s also keen to get proper evaluations of the work that is being done in the Church’s name, so it can be properly evaluated – for example, earlier this year CSAN organised an audit of Catholic organisations working with the elderly, and the report showcases the work of the Catholic voluntary sector in that field.
CSAN members
CSAN has 34 member organisations including:
A hostel and life skills centre for homeless adults in east London
A charity providing a wide range of services to children, young people and families
Provides services and support to excluded, vulnerable and isolated Irish emigrants in Britain – founded by the Irish bishops in 1957
A Westminster-based service that aims to help people with learning difficulties to participate in the life of their church and community
A voluntary Christian organisation, founded in 1844, dedicated to tackling poverty and disadvantage by providing direct practical assistance to anyone in need
| For more information on the work of CSAN, see www.caritas-socialaction.org.uk |
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