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