The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India during its ongoing plenary assembly at St. John’s Medical College, Bangalore has announced the appointment of Fr. Paul Moonjely, as the new Director of Caritas India and Fr. Jolly Puthenpura as Assistant Executive Director of Caritas India for the next 6 years.

Fr. Paul Moonjely and Fr. Jolly Puthenpura currently serving Caritas India as Assistant Executive Director and Administrator respectively. The appointment will be effective from May 2018

Fr. Paul holds an MBA and MSW degree with more than 11 years’ experience in development sector. Prior to joining Caritas India as Assistance Executive Director, he shouldered the responsibility of Executive Director of Welfare Services Ernakulam and Director of Lisie Medical and Educational Institutions, Kerala. With his community development approach, he has developed innovative programmes like ‘Sneha’ – a Centre for Rehabilitation of differently abled children and ‘Naivedya’ – an Ayurveda hospital for alternate health.

Fr. Jolly has 14 years of experience as Executive Director of Amravati Diocesan Social Development Society as well as Forum Director of Western Regional Forum covering Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat. He has done his Ph.D. in Catholic Social Teachings on the topic “The Principles of Catholic Social Teachings; their Relevance and Influence on the Catholic NGOs of Maharashtra”. He was instrumental in making Jeevan Vikas Sanstha as the Front-line NGO of the Vidarbha Region of Maharashtra. He was also a consultant to various social sector organisations in Maharashtra.

Both these fathers bring home a variety of rich experiences in the management of Church institutions and development sector programmes.

Fr. Frederick D’Souza who has been serving Caritas India as its Executive Director for the past 6 years will be successfully completing his term in April 2018.

About Caritas India

Caritas India is the official development arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. Propelled by the commitment to preserve the dignity and sacredness of human personality, Caritas India has serves the underprivileged sections of the society, hailing from socially excluded communities, the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, and religious minorities by exercising preferential actions for the most marginalised.

Over the years, Caritas India has diversified her interventions in the areas of Humanitarian Response and Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Adaptative Sustainable Agriculture and Livelihood, Anti-Human Trafficking, Peace-Building and Community Health. With a network of more than 200 partners across India, Caritas India reaches out to the most marginalised through humanitarian and development programmes.