Diocesan statement on changes in Catholic Youth Care, Crosscare and the Office of Evangelisation and Ecumenism

As part of an ongoing reflection on the services provided by the Archdiocese of Dublin in the social care field, the Archdiocese has decided to reorganise and combine the resources of Catholic Youth Care and Crosscare in this area. This comes at a critical time for the social care agencies as demand on services increase and resources are shrinking annually.

This reorganisation is designed to strengthen capacity to deliver services and support to those who need them most by pooling resources, sharing facilities and working cooperatively. This will result in the integration of Councils of both agencies and the Director of Crosscare will now also have responsibility for CYC.

Simultaneously, given the Diocesan centrality and focus on Evangelisation and the forthcoming Year of Faith, responsibility for Youth Evangelisation will transfer to the Diocesan Office for Evangelisation and Ecumenism.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin paid tribute to those people who had given years of dedicated service to young people through CYC, especially to the outgoing Director Fr. Jim Caffrey and previous CYC priest directors. He said the new arrangements reaffirmed the Diocesan commitment to working with young people on the margins of society, particular in the areas of training and education.  

Staff, service users, funding bodies and volunteers have been briefed on the changes which will be implemented in stages over the coming months.