UCAM opened the 20th Conference on Charity and Voluntary Work, which it organises together with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, with an online event in which Bartholomew I, the highest authority of the Orthodox Church in the world, participated. Bartholomew I stated that the experience of the crisis provoked by Covid-19 “should lead to a real repentance, to a turn from “I” to “we”, for the common good” because “to tackling the global challenges that affect humanity as a whole, the solution is always and everywhere the culture of solidarity, social orientation, fraternity, diaconia”.  

For his part, José Luis Mendoza, president of UCAM, highlighted “the solidarity with those who are most in need of the volunteers and of the associations that participate in these conferences and who devote their time and personal dedication”. Likewise, he explained that “throughout the 25 years of existence of this university, we have given 236 million Euro to cover humanitarian needs through 127 associations that take care of  needy families, sick persons, people with disabilities,  reception centres and projects in Africa, Latin America and India”.  

José Manuel Lorca Planes,  bishop of the Diocese of Cartagena, begun his speech by highlighting the strong commitment of UCAM with volunteering, and the rightness of the conference motto. “The Church encourages us to take care of those who are weaker and fragile because we are all called, as the Good Samaritan, to be close to others, overcoming prejudices, personal interests, historical and cultural barriers; love builds bridges, says Pope Francis in the Encyclical Letter, and we were made for love”.  

Today, Thursday 

The Conference continues today, Thursday, with a virtual path through the International Voluntary Work Exhibition, the International Folklore Festival, interventions by outstanding representatives of the Catholic Church, Orthodox Patriarchs and Evangelic and Reformed Churches. Furthermore, Moshé Bendahán, Chief Rabbi of Madrid, and Ayman Adlbi, president of the Islamic Communities of Spain, will intervene.  

Around 300 associations participate in the Exhibition  

Within the framework of this conference, they will also take place the Murcia and Cartagena Voluntary Work Exhibitions, promoted by UCAM and in which around 300 associations from the five continents expose their projects and aims through Internet to promote volunteering action.