Monsignor Georg Hüssler at the Papal audience with Pope John Paul II during Caritas Executive Committee meeting in November 1981Credits: Caritas archive

Former Caritas Internationalis President Monsignor Georg Hüssler died yesterday in Freiburg, aged 91. Monsignor Hüssler was the President of Caritas Germany for 21 years and carried out two mandates as Caritas Internationalis President from 1975 to 1983. “Georg Hüssler will be remembered as one of the defining architects of the Caritas Internationalis that we know today, helping it grow to 164 national members that cover the world. He believed that Caritas could better help people trapped in a cycle of poverty by working together through a confederal structure.  

“On behalf of my Caritas colleagues around the world, we offer our prayers and condolences to his family and to Caritas Germany.”

Monsignor Hüssler took part in the first General Assembly of Caritas Internationalis in 1951 and sent a video message to participants at its 19th General Assembly in 2007. He helped set up the emergency appeals system, and it was his diplomacy that allowed Caritas to support aid programmes in both North and South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

Georg Hüssler, 7 July 1921 to 14 April 2013.