Caritas Mexico

Caritas Mexico (Spanish: Cáritas Mexicana) is a Mexican nonprofit organisation. It is the official aid organisation of the Catholic Church in Mexico.

The organisation is a member of the global Caritas Internationalis confederation and of Caritas Latin America and Caribbean.

Background
In 1971 Pope Paul VI established the Pontifical Council Cor Unum. Its goal was the coordination, promotion and intensification of Catholic relief and assistance activities and organizations. One of the two members of the council was Adalberto Almeida y Merino, Archbishop of Chihuahua. He returned home to convince the Episcopal Conference of Mexico to create a national Caritas in Mexico, which was achieved in 1973.

The original purpose of Caritas Mexico was to serve as the federation of the Mexican diocesan Caritas organisations, as most Catholic dioceses had established their own Caritas. However, between 1979 and 1995, Caritas Mexico mainly provided emergency relief and social assistance. In 1997, its legal status changed and it became an Institución de Asistencia Privada (Private Assistance Institution). This allowed it to restore its original purpose as a federation. In 2024, there were 62 diocesan Caritas branches operating in 30 Mexican states.

Structure
Caritas Mexico consists of dozens of regional, independent Caritas organisations in Mexico, one in each of the Catholic dioceses of Mexico. They implement social projects locally.

The diocesan organisations are: