DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE is the official development organization of the Catholic Church in Canada. It is inspired by the values of the Gospel, particularly, "the preferential option for the poor."

At Vatican Council II, the Bishops of Africa, Asia and Latin America conveyed to our bishops the harsh realities of poverty and underdevelopment in the southern continents. At that time, our bishops became deeply aware of our responsibility to work together as a universal church to end these injustices. Responding to these realities, and at the urging of concerned lay people, in 1967 the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops created the Canadian Catholic Organization for DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE (CCODP) — DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE (D&P) for short.

Canadians have a long a commendable history of being charitable — feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and sheltering the homeless. Through D&P we have learned the importance of social justice in helping our brothers and sisters is Christ. Furthermore, since 1967 DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE has shown solidarity to many partners in south supporting them in their struggle for Justice. Development and Peace has been financially supporting ordinary people in all parts of the world who are doing extraordinary things to create a new and better world for themselves and for all of us. We support projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America that focus on justice, human rights and participation in society: adult education, social movements, farmer and craft co-operatives, youth centers, small loans projects, etc. We especially support women, who make up the majority of the poor.

Their Mandate

When the Bishops of Canada commissioned Development and Peace it was given a twofold mandate.

• First, to assist the poor and oppressed peoples of the world in their struggle for justice.
   
• Second, to educate the people in Canada about the causes of underdevelopment and about social justice.

DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE meets these goals through two annual campaigns: Share Lent (the primary fundraiser to finance projects around the world), and Fall Action (the primary education campaign to alert Catholics of global justice issues requiring urgent action.) Participation in the work of DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE is a means for Catholics to get involved and do something meaningful that will make positive changes in the lives of people struggling for social justice.

Link

For more about DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE, (the organization, programs, partners, membership, donations, etc.), visit their website at, www.devp.org.