The seventh Caritas Congress opened in Berlin yesterday. For three days, about one thousand Caritas delegates from all over Germany will be discussing the way social cohesion can be successful in times of populism, Artificial Intelligence, climate crisis and war. The theme of the Congress is “Together, things happen. Caritas connects generations”. The President of Caritas, Eva Welskop-Deffaa, explains: “Too often, a feeling of helplessness, lack of communication between generations and a sort of aggressive surrender rule our daily life. As Caritas in Germany, we look for solutions to overcome such paralysis and prevent divisions. Especially where distributional issues between generations need to be renegotiated, we create space for dialogue to unleash the potential of all generations”. Caritas Germany wants to reiterate that every day young and old people – and all the generations in between –, with their inputs, are important and essential to build a better future. Welskop-Deffaa calls on politicians to promote the citizens’ initiative: “We urgently need a ‘strong civil society that can shape bonds and deploy forces for the common good’, as Pope Leo recently wished for in his social encyclical”. This year, a particularly high number of employees and volunteers under 30 are attending. Speaking at the Congress today, mgr. Heiner Wilmer, President of the German Bishops’ Conference, pointed out that “Caritas’s work is essential: for people, for the Church and for our social welfare”.