Charitable works begin with God's love, Pope tells Caritas delegates (Vatican Press Office)

In a May 11 address to delegates from Caritas International, Pope Francis said that the work of the international charitable consortium is “not just a matter of initiating projects and strategies that prove successful and effective, but also of engaging in an ongoing process of missionary conversion.”

The Pope encouraged the Caritas delegates to focus on the source of their works, which is God’s love, “precisely because the identity of Caritas Internationalis depends directly on the mission it has received.”

Although he did not refer directly to the tensions that have troubled Caritas International—and led to the Vatican’s removal of top management last year—he did stress the importance of working with an attitude of charity, and his words could easily apply to the Caritas delegates’ task of choosing new leadership. To identify the spirit of charity in workers, he suggested, “look closely to see if they are willing to help freely, with a smile on their face, without grumbling or getting annoyed.”