The most charitable organization in the world

[Andrea22]

I keep reading over and over that "Catholic church is out the most charitable organization in the world."

I believe it however I'm not comfortable saying such a statment without some hard numbers to back me up. Does anyone know of such a resource?

And if one is saying that it is the "most" that means that we are #1, then who would be numbers, 2 and 3? In other words we are making comparisons, and exactly who are we comparing oursleves to?

I'm hoping to get some help on this.

Thanks!

[chrisg93]

Great question. I also asked it several years ago and never got a reply.

[Andrea22]

Well let's hope we can get some answers this time!!

[melensdad]

Originally Posted by Andrea22

I keep reading over and over that "Catholic church is out the most charitable organization in the world."

Just curious, but where do you hear this? Can you post some links?

[Andrea22]

I have read this from different posters on this site. Nothing worth linking to.

[Andrea22]

I found some answers

There was an interview published on Zenit.org on March 10/2008

The Man Who Leads the World's Biggest Charity
Interview With Cor Unum President, Cardinal Cordes


After reading this article, I now know why we consider ourselves to be the world's biggest Charity. When you define Charity as "to show the love of God for every man and woman" It becomes apparent why. With Jesus being the head of the church and each one of us being part of the body of Christ, we have a leader who has given us everything and has commanded us to do likewise. It is no wonder why we can confidently make such claim.

The one question that does remain, however, is how do the Catholic Charities impart the faith dimension of charity while respecting religious freedom? How does one console one who doesn't believe in God by talking to them about God?

[lidiapurple]

So, it's been over a year since the last post to this thread. Are there any new articles or anything that would verify the claim that the Catholic Church is the largest charitable organization in the world?

[JimG]

I don't think you will be able to find all charitable organizations operated under the auspices of the Catholic Church listed in one place. Every diocese has charities; there are also national and international Catholic Charities. Try a google search for Catholic Charitable Organizations.

[Moscati]

Forbes has a list of U.S. charities and ranks Catholic Charities USA fifth in term of revenue.

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/14/Revenue_1.html

Of course, not all Catholic charities in the U.S. are explicitly associated with them.

I'm not sure how one could measure ALL charitable activity under the auspices of the Church worldwide . . . it would be difficult to pin down.

[Gloria1]

It is not just one diocese. Every diocese has charities (as Jim said) and the Catholic church is the biggest Christian denominational group and among the richest so it makes sense to rank it among the most charitable organizations (talking about the entire Catholic church). However, there are other Christian denominational groups doing great or even better as compared to their size. The Seventh Day Adventist groups for example are doing great job in Africa.

[Saint_Macarius]

I would have a problem with the last statement (regarding "one of the richest"), but I will not go deeper into that topic.
As for Catholic Charities USA, I volunteer for the Society of Saint Vincent De Paul and we're not considered to be in CC, but a "United Way Umbrella Organization." We don't even receive money from CC, but I would definitely say we are a Catholic organization.

[vera dicere]

I saw somethign a few years back on the news that stated the Catholic Church was the biggest charitable organisation, it said it was based on not just how much we dole out, but also how many groups and programmes we run. Like all the crisis pregnancy centres, homes for unwed mothers, soup kitchens, orphanages.

I'll see if I can find it online somewhere.

[ORD NASILA]

Originally Posted by Gloria1

It is not just one diocese. Every diocese has charities (as Jim said) and the Catholic church is the biggest Christian denominational group and among the richest so it makes sense to rank it among the most charitable organizations (talking about the entire Catholic church). However, there are other Christian denominational groups doing great or even better as compared to their size. The Seventh Day Adventist groups for example are doing great job in Africa.

Such pity that people make it into competition. Matthew 6: 3 & 4, " But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth" (4) "That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." It just a thought, I mean no offence! Regard, O.N.

[JimG]

As an example, in my own diocese, Catholic Charities operates a number of programs, including a shelter for women and families who need to get out of abusive situations. There is also a public diner which provides one meal a day to anyone who needs it, no questions asked. It's operated as a restaurant, not a charity, though no one pays. It's able to continue doing this because we have nearly 6,000 volunteers. There is a medical clinic which provides health care to those who are uninsured or under-insured. These things occur every day in dioceses throughout the nation. No one remarks on them because it is taken for granted that this is part of what we do.

[Bobby Jim]

It's a hard thing to show... much as some people of all viewpoints would like to regard THE Catholic Church as a single entity... in many ways each individual diocese, each religious order, and lots of associated groups, act quite independently. For example, do you consider The Society of St Vincent DePaul to be "The Catholic Church" for purposes of tallying up charitable giving? And let's not even get started on the Jesuits!