Pope Leo XIV recently told the Order of Malta that, without evangelisation, the knights’ service to the poor is merely philanthropy. “Do not limit yourself to helping the needs of the poor, but announce to them the love of God with words and testimony. If this were to be lacking, the order would lose its religious character and would be reduced to being an organisation with philanthropic purposes.”
By contrast, most charitable atheists prefer to work for good causes with others, regardless of religion, of all faiths and none, and to donate time or money to secular charity and causes that do not discriminate on grounds of religion (or non-religion) or promote one particular worldview.
Atheist Ireland runs an online team called Good Without Gods on Kiva, which raises funds for entrepreneurs in developing countries. We have so far raised more than €40,000 for secular entrepreneurs.
You can join here if you want to contribute, https://www.kiva.org/team/join/atheistireland.
There are many excellent, non-religious, inclusive charities in Ireland and Irish charities working both at home and overseas. We do not list them here because it would be unfair to try to construct a list which would inevitably exclude some.
If you want to see what a charter for secular charity looks like then the excellent Medicins San Frontiers charter and principles is a great example of an ethical and equality based set of principles. https://www.msf.org/who-we-are
