CCODP launches Share Lent Campaign

OTTAWA (CCN) -- The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace launched its annual Share Lent fund-raising campaign Feb. 21, hoping to raise $10 million by Easter, April 8.

CCODP marks its 40th anniversary this year with the theme No Peace without Development. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops created the organization as its overseas development arm shortly after Pope Paul VI released his encyclical Populorum Progressio, On the Development of Peoples, 40 years ago.

This encyclical outlined the "obligations of solidarity, social justice, and universal charity," that provided the context for the creation of CCODP, wrote CCCB vice president Archbishop James Weisgerber of Winnipeg in the organization's Share Lent magazine.

"Since that time, CCODP has been true to its founding principle that peace is possible only when the communities in the global south become responsible for their own development," he said.

"Unfortunately, however, wealthier nations still profit at the expense of our brothers and sisters in the global south."

"The need today for CCODP is greater than ever, and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is proud of and supports its work," he wrote.

The magazine has photos and a description of various historical milestones since the agency began in 1966. For example, the first Share Lent campaign in March of 1968 raised $1,405,100. The magazine also highlights solidarity and development projects in Peru, Zambia, the Philippines, and South Africa, where CCODP helped fight apartheid.

Only days before the campaign launch, on Feb. 16, a joint delegation from CCODP and the CCCB set out on a 10-day trip to Indonesia to see the reconstruction projects the organization established after the devastating 2004 tsunami.

CCCB president Archbishop Andre Gaumond of Sherbrooke, Archbishop Weisgerber,

Officials visit Indonesia

and CCCB General Secretary Mario Paquette accompanied CCODP's national president Helene Trepanier, national council member and Asian program committee chair Tom Hardjowirogo, and executive director Michael Casey to Jakarta, Medan, and Banda Aceh, the hardest hit area.

"In the weeks after the devastating tsunami we were able to respond most effectively to local needs by involving local community members in all aspects of the reconstruction process," Casey said in a Feb. 16 news release.

"CCODP relied on its well-established relationship with key partner groups involved in long-term development projects to swiftly lay the groundwork for a reconstruction program."

In the Banda Aceh area, the delegation will visit CCODP's largest-ever reconstruction project, from UPLINK (Urban Poor Linkage).

"While some organizations are still trying to build temporary shelters to house displaced families, our partner, UPLINK, has already built 3,000 homes, and 800 more are under construction," said CCODP program officer Andre Charlebois.