A new study has found that Catholic charities are being asked to do more with less funds as well as a decreased number of volunteers, however, a phenomena being dubbed 'the Pope Francis effect' is helping enthuse people to help and bring in new volunteers.
Ben Ryan, researcher at Theos, the religion and society think tank, told Premier that the Pope Francis effect is hard to define.
He said: "I think broadly speaking it's just a greater level of warmth towards what the Church is doing.
"It's that combination, I think, of humility of speaking on issues of genuine, practical concern."
He continued: "Organisations who perhaps had a perception of Catholicism as being very social conservative, very sort of starchy and limited, began to get a little bit warmer and began to think if this is the message they're sending out, maybe it deserves a second look."
Who is Pope Francis?
- 266th and current Pope of the Roman Catholic Church
- Sovereign of the Vatican City
- December 17th 1936, age 79
- Nationality Argentine
Theos undertook a study of six UK Catholic charities including two marriage crisis charities, one supporting seafarers, and three that deal with general social care.
It found a commitment to Catholic Social Teaching, social justice, equality and family life.
Many of the charities said that they saw their work as extending a hand to people living on the margins of society, like refugees and asylum seeks, those living with dementia and those that are isolated.
Theos also found that promoting Catholic Social Teaching was more difficult due to increasing money problems.
Some of the charities Theos spoke to also reported the Catholic sex abuse scandal having a negative impact.
But a number of interviewees said they had been received more warmly since Pope Francis was appointed as the head of the Catholic Church.
Ben Ryan said: "The knock-on effect of this has seen charities forced to work on an ever expanding range of issues previously under the remit of local government or other agencies with a decreasing pool of available funders.
"More broadly, Catholic charities are having to work harder than ever before to secure volunteers and funding not least because parish decline in many areas has reduced the available volunteer pool and funding base."
The report said that some Catholic charities need to rethink how they recruit volunteers and fundraise.
The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Nichols said the report was useful for bringing "into sharp focus the broken and wounded world in which we live and how Catholic charities are called to imitate Christ in their work with the vulnerable and marginalised."
Listen to Premier's Hannah Tooley speak to Ben Ryan here:
