By Leslie Ann Aquino
A Filipino Catholic priest has been elected as member of the Regional Commission of Caritas Asia.
Fr. Edwin Gariguez (fourth from left/ FACEBOOK / MANILA BULLETIN)
Caritas Philippines Executive Secretary Father Edwin Gariguez was elected during the Regional Conference of Caritas Asia in Bangkok, Thailand held from March 21 to 22.
During the conference, Dr. Benedict Alo of Bangladesh was also elected as the new Caritas Asia President.
According to Gariguez, the Caritas Asia Regional Commission is the advisory and executive body that works with the President in coordinating the activities and plans for Asia and in carrying out the decisions of the Regional Conference.
The priest was also elected to represent Asia to the Representative Council of the Caritas Internationalis together with Fr. Paul Choo of Caritas Korea.
The RepCo (Representative Council) is the highest internal governing body of Caritas Internationalis during the period between General Assemblies. RepCo takes governance decisions for the promotion of the works of Caritas Internationalis.
To note, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle is also the current president of Caritas Internationalis. He was elected to the said post in May 2015.
Tagle is the first Caritas Internationalis President to be elected from Asia.