Faith advocacy and the EU anti-poverty process: a case of Caritas

Caritas in Europe is both the EU's largest voluntary sector network of any kind, and also comprises Europe's biggest religious NGO. This article tracks the Europeanization of its advocacy as part of an European Commission-funded initiative to engage civil society networks in the improvement of national social inclusion strategy designs. Noting the impact of state structure and civil service actions on the form and impact of such faith-based advocacy, the article draws out fresh insights for the UK debate on the role of religious organizations in welfare reform and advocacy, not least the appropriate assessment of ‘the local’, ‘motivating ideas’ and the need for the development of a new and ‘adaptive leadership’ style by public managers.