Justice Development and Peace / Caritas Commission (JDPC) Nsukka Diocese

Justice Development and Peace / Caritas Commission (JDPC) Nsukka Diocese is a faith-based, non-profit, non-governmental organisation that operates to foster justice and peace at all levels of church and society.

In the face of widespread injustice, inequality, and in-balance that keep the majority of the world population in poverty and misery, the Second Vatican Council held from 1962 - 1965, called for the creation of an organ of the Universal Church to be entrusted with the task of arousing the Catholic community to promote progress in areas of need and to foster social justice among the nations (Gaudium et Spes N 90).

In response to this call, Pope Paul VI on the 6th of January 1967 created the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (Justitia et Pax) to attend to issues related to Justice, Development, Peace and Human rights. The structure and framework of this Commission were given in the Motu Proprio, Catholicam Christi Ecclesiam. In this document, Pope Paul VI stated emphatically that: “the purpose of its establishment is to awaken in the people of God full awareness of their mission today…. The name of this Commission, Justice and Peace aptly describes its program and its goals.”

In 1976, the Catholic Welfare Services established in 1960 was transmuted to Justice, Development and Peace by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN). As a result, the Justice Development and Peace / Caritas Commission (JDPC) of the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka were created in 1991. It is largely and extensively a structural response to the universal mandate of the Mother Church; to be active in building a just and peaceful society.