BISHOP-IN-CHARGE Most Rev Yvon Ambroise Bishop of Tuticorin Add : Bishop's House Tuticorin - 628 001, Tamil Nadu Tel (O) : (0461) 23 20 035 Fax (O) : (0461) 23 27 710

MEMBERS Most Rev Mathew Arackal Bishop of Kanjirapally Add : Bishops's House Kottayam (Dt.), Kerala - 686 507 Tel (O) : (04828) 20 26 65, 20 29 06 Fax (O) : (04828) 20 60 22 Most Rev Gerald Almeida Bishop of Jabalpur Add : Bishop's House, 599, South Civil Lines Jabalpur - 482 001, Madhya Pradesh Tel (O) : (0761) 26 22 413, 50 18 322 Fax (O) : (0761) 26 24 360 E-mail : dcj@sancharnet.in

SECRETARY Fr. Charles Irudayam Add : CBCI Office for Justice, Peace and Development CBCI Centre, 1, Ashok Place, New Delhi 110 001 Tel (O) : (011) 23 36 61 27 Fax (O) : 23 36 61 27, 23 36 46 15 E-mail : jpdcommission@gmail.com icharlie69@hotmail.com Website : www.thejusticeandpeace.org

History

The Office for Justice, Peace and Development (JPD) was established by the CBCI in 1972 following the constitution by the Holy See of the two commissions at the international level - the Commission for Justice and Peace, and Cor Unum. Since then Caritas India has been its operational wing.

The activities of JPD before 1982 included mainly the ecumenical consultation on development and the circulation of the message of the Pope on 31st January. When the CBCI Commissions were reorganized the then Commissions for Education, Health services, Labour and Scheduled Castes and Tribes were merged into JPD with a full time secretary for the latter. But, after a period of experimentation once again there came into existence separate Commissions and in 1989 in the CBCI General Body Meeting at Shillong JPD was left with only issues relating to Justice, Peace and Development. The assistant director of Caritas was in charge of this JPD Office till 2002. From 2002 onwards a full time secretary has been appointed by the Standing Committee of CBCI to deal with the issues related to Justice, Peace and Development.

VISION

The Vision of JPD office is to

• enable empowerment of individuals and communities;
• provide and ensure the environment (within and outside the Church) where every individual and community can live and work with human dignity and be free from all forms of exploitation; and
• work towards establishment of a just and peaceful society where the Gospel values are lived, advocated and nurtured.

MISSION

• To be an inspirational agency of the Catholic Church of India for promotion of justice, peace and development;
• To build the capacities of the stakeholders at the Local / diocesan, regional and national levels to assume leadership and become agents of social change;
• To be a network of partners and civil society organization for advocacy, lobbying, embodying and empowering the poor and marginalized so that their voices are heard in the corridors of power at local, Regional, national and international
• To promote and ensure justice within the church institutions in all dimensions.

GUIDING VALUES AND PRINCIPLES

Basing on the Gospel and the social teaching of the church, (Statement from Ecclesia in Asia Church cannot be neutral amidst injustice. The church has the right, indeed the duty, to proclaim justice on the social/local, national and international level and to denounce instances of injustice, when the fundamental rights of man and his very salvation demand it (Populorum Progressio, no.36).

• The mother earth has got enough and more to satisfy the need of all but does not have enough to satisfy the greed of any- Gandhi
• what we want is dignity and nothing less - Ambedkar
• Cooperation, Solidarity, Subsidiarity and Sustainability
• Equality and Equity

AREAS OF CONCERN

• Peace and Communal Harmony
• Social Justice
• Option for the poor
• Human Dignity and Human Right
• Integral Human Development
• Sustainable Development
• Ecology