During the General Assembly of the Caritas Confederation (CI), Caritas around the world elected the president and secretary general for Caritas Internationalis, who will lead this body for the next 4 years. These are Mons. Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi SVD, Archbishop of Tokyo, as presiding Bishop; and Alistair Chad Dutton, as general secretary.

"Cáritas must be on the front line to welcome, accompany, serve and defend the poor and vulnerable. This mission must be supported and be the center of attention of the members of the Confederation and I would like to be I, together with the Secretary General, who leads the entire organization to fulfill this important mission of the Church. We are all invited to walk together," said the Archbishop of Tokyo, addressing the 400 Caritas delegates present at Rome, where the elections were held.

For his part, Alistair Dutton noted that "Serving Caritas over the last three decades has been a great privilege for me. Caritas has been my home, my family and my vocation. I promise to listen with humility, reflect and build bridges. I promise to use the convening power of the general secretary to drive the confederation forward together."

Mons. Tarcisius Isao, commitment to Caritas since 1955

Monsignor Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi SVD, who will serve the Confederation for the next four years, is Archbishop of Tokyo, President of the Bishops' Conference of Japan and Secretary General of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC). Monsignor Kikuchi has worked at Caritas in different positions and with different titles since 1995, when he began as a volunteer in the Bukavu refugee camp, then Zaire. He was Executive Director of Caritas Japan from 1999 to 2004 and President of Caritas Japan from 2007 to 2022. He was also President of Caritas Asia from 2011 to 2019, a member of the Executive Committee of Caritas Internationalis from 1999 to 2004 and a member of the Council of Representatives from 2011 to 2019.

Alistair Dutton, extensive experience at Caritas

Alistair Dutton is currently executive director of SCIAF (Caritas Scotland), Mr. Dutton has more than 25 years of experience in the humanitarian field and has led projects in more than 70 countries. From 2009 to 2014, he was Humanitarian Director of Caritas Internationalis.

“Serving Caritas over the past three decades has been a great privilege for me. Caritas has been my home, my family and my calling,” the 11th Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis told Caritas delegates attending the General Assembly. "I promise to humbly listen, reflect and build bridges. I promise to use the convening power of the Secretary General to move the confederation forward together."

Mr Dutton first worked with Caritas in 1996. "Since then, my journey with Caritas has taken me around the world. From the war in Kosovo, Darfur, Iraq, Liberia and Syria; to the tsunamis in Asia, the earthquakes in Haiti, India, Indonesia and Chile; the conflicts born of greed and the exploitation of wealth in Africa; the waves of displaced people in the Middle East; and the devastation caused by the climate emergency and extreme weather conditions: cyclones and floods in Pakistan, Myanmar, India and Bangladesh; food crises in so many African countries, from the Sahel to Somalia, from Sudan to Zimbabwe; he stated.