Bishops delegate the direction of Cáritas Colombia to priest Diego Meza Gavilanes

In an emergency context following the earthquake of August 10, the Colombian Bishops have entrusted the task of directing the national secretariat of Social Pastoral Cáritas to Diego Meza Gavilanes.

The priest, from the clergy of Ipiales, in the south of the country, has the task of continuing to coordinate the emergency response in the affected territories by the earthquake, under the umbrella of the solidarity campaign “With Colombia, to the last corner” and with the so-called National Emergency System.

This appointment was formalized at the CXXI Plenary Assembly of the Colombian episcopate, held in July; but the official announcement was made on August 19.

Father Meza was born in Ospina, Nariño department. He has a career closely linked to pastoral and social work in the territories. In fact, since 2024 he had been directing the diocesan Cáritas of Ipiales.

There he accompanied peace and reconciliation processes, historical memory, youth political participation, agroecology, human mobility, gender, and rural development, in coordination with international cooperation organizations.

He is also a teacher and social researcher. He has a PhD in Social Sciences from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and a master's in Methodology and Advanced Techniques of Social Research from Sapienza University of Rome.

He was a professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Pontifical Gregorian University and at the Center for Latin American Studies and Research (CEILAT) of the University of Nariño.

He published the book “Crossed Trajectories. Catholicisms and Politics in Contemporary Latin America,” under the imprint of the Pontifical Javeriana University Press, of which he is a co-editor.

Father Meza has highlighted the work of the Church in the territories through Caritas, because “one of the great strengths of the Church is that we do not arrive in the territory after an emergency. We were already there before it occurred and we will remain after it.”

He explained that the Church has a capillary presence, meaning it is branched out in dioceses, parishes, religious communities, through the work of pastoral agents and volunteers.

“This presence is especially important in the most forgotten and peripheral areas,” he said.

He announced that he will deploy technical teams in the affected territories, with special attention to dispersed rural communities, urban areas, indigenous and Afro-Colombian peoples, and families facing greater conditions of vulnerability.

“In an emergency, the one with the most visibility is not necessarily the one who needs help the most. We want our decisions to be based on the real needs of the territories,” he pointed out.

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