Trócaire's Catholic identity
Trócaire is the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland. It was set up by the Irish Catholic Bishops in 1973 to express the concern of the Irish Church for the suffering of the world's poorest and most oppressed people.
Trócaire’s partnership approach makes us different. We work through global Catholic networks and with local partners on the ground. When we help people, we work with them, so that they drive the entire process themselves. Solutions are not imposed on the people we help. Instead, they become the authors of their own destiny.
Vital Worldwide Networks
Trócaire‘s membership of Caritas Internationalis - one of the largest humanitiarian relief, development and social services networks in the world is critical to our ability to carry out our work.
Trócaire works with agencies in the Caritas network to implement emergency and development programmes and to advocate on social justice issues.
The Caritas network is made up of 162 Catholic charities working in 200 countries and territories around the world.
Trócaire is a member of the CIDSE alliance of 16 Catholic development organisations from Europe and North America.
Trócaire’s membership of CIDSE is essential to our advocacy, campaigning and education work for the developing world.
Advocacy is a core priority for CIDSE. Our members work together to advocate on trade and food security, resources for development, global governance, EU development policy, and security and development.
Trócaire as a Catholic agency
Trócaire's roots can be found as far back as 1967 when Pope Paul VI wrote his groundbreaking and insightful encyclical Popularoum Progressio, which called for people to take notice and respond to the injustices and disparities that were occurring all round the world.
In 1973 floods ravaged Bangladesh causing the Irish people to donate money in a spontaneous act of community solidarity and generosity. Cardinal William Conway saw the need for an Irish Church agency to channel such generosity and Trócaire's life began.
In a pastoral letter written in 1973 by the Bishops of Ireland, Trócaire, the Irish word for "compassion" was established. The agency was set up as an official channel through which people can express their commitment on an ongoing basis, to the needs of the Third World. They set out the aims of Trócaire as two-fold:
Abroad, it will give whatever help lies within its resources to the areas of greatest need among the developing counties. At home, it will try to make us all more aware of the needs of these countries and of our duties towards them. These duties are no longer a matter of charity but of simple justice.
These aims and values still lie at the heart of Trócaire today and are underpinned by Catholic Social Teaching which stresses the dignity of each person and their inalienable human rights, along with their responsibilities, regardless of culture, ethnicity, gender or religion.
As a faith-based organisation Trócaire is united with similar organisations across the world through CIDSE (International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity) and the wider church network Caritas Internationalis (a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development and social service organisations) to challenge global structures of injustice.
At a local level it is the priests who work alongside Trócaire that are crucial to the continuing success of the Lenten campaign, one of Trócaire's biggest fundraising campaigns. It is they who convey the justice message to their people and who inspire, encourage and motivate.
The debt owed to our priests, which has been accumulating for over 30 years is incalculable.
