Chris Bain, who has headed Cafod for the last fifteen years, has announced his retirement, writes Joanna Moorhead. Mr Bain, 64, will leave the Catholic Church’s development agency in December. He was, he said this week, “proud and humbled” to have been part of its “life-changing” work. “Cafod’s sense of mission and purpose has never been stronger. We are in sound financial health and have a wealth of talent in our dedicated staff and volunteers.”
The chair of Cafod’s trustees, Bishop John Arnold, said Mr Bain had led the charity through great successes in challenging times. “He leaves Cafod having provided a clear directional purpose and strong sense of mission,” he said.
During his time at the helm of Cafod, Mr Bain said, he had seen much of the NGO’s work overseas.
“The results of our local intervention are clear – children attending school, farms flourishing and women taking the lead in their communities,” he said.
Under Mr Bain’s directorship, Cafod has strengthened its place as a leader in humanitarian crisis response, working as part of a global network of Catholic agencies to respond to events such as Typhoon Haiyan or the Nepal earthquake. Climate change has emerged as a focus: spurred by reports from partners overseas of erratic weather patterns hitting poor communities, Cafod lobbied the British government to enact the Climate Change Act, which made the UK the first country to set legally binding carbon targets. Cafod now also works alongside the Holy See at UN climate change summits.
This is made possible, said Mr Bain, “because Cafod is held fondly in the hearts of the Catholic community in England and Wales, who trust us to work alongside the poor on their behalf”.
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