How strict is it that I "believe" in the aims of an organisation?

[steve208]

Hi hope someone can give me some input on this. I have seen a job advert for a position with CAFOD ( a catholic international development charity). However i am not particuarly religious but reading their satement it says that the person should be in sympathy with their aims and values. Well i would support the work they do and its only an admin position. This is what ios says on the person spec: A commitment to CAFOD's Vision, Mission and Values is essential for all staff.

[dot.hawkes]

have you read what these values are? What their mission statement says? How they apply their values into the practical work they do? i am sure this would all be readily available to read online. if you have a strong opposition to these things then the job is not for you. I am not a catholic, but I would imagine a catholic Charity has to follow the catholic Doctrine and that is something that I have no clue about except what has been headlined, e.g. the Papal stance on abortion, birth control, homosexuality, etc.

[kevb0444]

It would depend on if what you believe is gonna some how interfere with your work. In an extreme example it's like someone who strongly disagree's with animal testing getting an admin job at Huntingdon Life Sciences.

[steve208]

hey there. thanks you both very muich for your prompt and informative answers. You are both right. It was just that the aims and values bit of their site said lots and the catholic bit praying etc was only the last bit. Anyway it would seem somewhat inappropriate to apply for this will move on and apply for other things!

thanks again.

[andy-hughes]

It is standard for Cathoklic organisations - schools, charities, and so on, to include practising baptised Catholics, but they would probably accept you if you can offer evidence that you are a Christian. As dot.hawkes advises, you would need to be on-message with the basic beliefs of the Catholic faith, or willing to subert your own opinions and maybe even lie to confirm that you agree with the basic tennents of the faith.

Have a chat with your local Catholic priest, who will be able to advise you further on the current barometer of faith and its impact on the church's charities, and their employees.

[hartley]

CAFOD's Vision, Mission and Values can be found at;

http://www.cafod.org.uk/about_cafod/vision/vision_mission_and_values

There is some mention of "Drawing inspiration from Scripture and Catholic social teaching" to do their work, but most of their aims are probably much in line with a non-religious development charity (ending poverty, promoting access to water, shelter, security, working with the marginalised etc). IMO most decent people would agree with the spirit of pretty much everything within their vision and values.

I have to disagree with part of what andy_hughes says (shock, horror I know you are held as a God-like genius in these parts andy! ;-) you probably don't have to be a Christian as I doubt they can discriminate on the grounds of faith. This is probably why they term it fairly loosely as "..sympathy with..."

I used to know a couple of people who worked for CAFOD and they were lovely! Good luck with the application!