OUR BACKGROUND AND STATUS

The Justice, Development and peace/caritas Commission (JDPC/Caritas) is an institution established by the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria (CBN) under the department of Church and Society of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN). The JDPC, Abakaliki is registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) under the department of Church and Society of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria. It is also registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission as a diocese under the name Centre for Transparent Justice and Development (CETJAD, Abakaliki), hence the accronym JDPC/CETJAD.

JDPC/CETJAD is a Commission established in response to the mandate of the Church through the Second Vatican Council, to get involved in building a just and virile world. It is therefore created to respond to the social demands of the gospel as earlier designed by the Church on 6th January 1967, through Pope Paul VI, when he created the Pontifical Commission: Justus et Pax (Justice and peace).

Our Task / Mandate

Our task is to awaken the people of God through the process of conscientization and sensitization, and further the understanding of our call as Christians with regard to social justice, leading to a greater awareness of human rights obligations and service.

Our mandate includes, but not limited to the following: Ensuring the involvement of the Nigerian Church in the promotion of good governance and sustainable democracy, coordinating the Church’s efforts in agricultural and rural development as well as organizing seminars and training workshops or awareness creation campaigns/conscientization of people with a view to building the capacity of the Church functionaries. All activities of JDPC/Caritas of Abakaliki Diocese are deeply rooted in the Gospel in accordance with the Social Teachings of the Church.