Stephen Carattini was living an American success story — he had
risen through the ranks of an international transportation and logistics firm
in Houston to become corporate vice president. He was happily married with two
children, and his company was thriving and growing.
“I should have been happy, but I realized I wasn’t happy,” said
Carattini, 59. “I realized I needed to do something different.”
That something was a deep dive into the faith he’d always wanted
to learn more about. A lifelong Catholic, he decided — with the blessing of his
wife, Michelle — to go back to school to earn a master’s in theological studies
from the University of St. Thomas in Houston. When he graduated, he found his
way to the world of Catholic Charities, where he discovered a group of
like-minded people who wanted to incorporate their faith into their work and
share their love and compassion.
“It was no longer about profit and loss; it was about love and
consolation,” he said.
That was almost 20 years ago. After working at Catholic Charities
and in similar organizations across the
United States and Canada, Carattini in January brought his business background
and heart for service to his latest role as president and CEO of Catholic
Charities of the Diocese of Arlington. He replaces Art Bennett, who retired
after 10 years.
Carattini reflected on his journey and priorities one recent
morning at the agency’s Christ House ministry in Alexandria, where he met with
staff, visited the food pantry and stopped to chat with clients staying in
transitional housing.
“In other countries, poverty is right there, and you can see it,”
said Carattini, who lived in eight countries growing up while his father was an
overseas construction contractor. He returned to the states to study
international relations at Georgetown University in Washington.
“Here in the United States, we hide our poor. As a successful
business person, I could get into my car and never encounter poverty. I would
never have met anyone living in a homeless shelter or someone at a food pantry.
I was just the guy writing the check,” he said.
At Catholic Charities, “I’ve been blessed to be able to meet the
people we serve, and it’s still a blessing to this day. This is Christ coming
to us.”
Carattini takes the helm at a time of tremendous growth; the
agency has doubled its annual revenue over the past five years to $16.3
million. Thanks to the generosity of donors, its ministries have been able to
respond to dramatic increases in need for food, housing and emergency
assistance in the past year during the pandemic.
“People see the good we do, and they respond to that,” he said,
adding that “the significant increase in donations imposes an obligation and
responsibility on us to use it wisely.”
Stewardship is one of three key areas of Carattini’s focus; the
others are identity and integrity. He emphasizes, for example, that the agency,
its 130 employees and hundreds of volunteers run ministries, not programs.
“Governments run programs,” he said. Anyone can provide a box of food, “but
we’re extending God’s love in the interaction, that is what makes it a
ministry, and that should be a continuous reflection of who we are as an
agency.”
Ministering is not the same as evangelizing, he points out.
Catholic Charities serves people of all backgrounds, and “we will not
proselytize. It’s not about the other person’s faith or lack thereof, it’s
about our own.”
He trusts that if the agency acts with integrity, demonstrates
good stewardship and stays true to its identity, “God will bless us with the
resources we need.”
That trust in God’s providence was honed on a life-changing
pilgrimage Carattini made in 2012, when he walked 500 miles in 36 days on the
Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James) to the Cathedral of Santiago de
Compostela in Spain.
“I am a planner, and when I first started I was very worried
about plans. But about a third of the way, I knew I would have a place to stay
and there would be food to eat. You learn a lot about humility. I learned to be
by myself, walking through the wheat fields and vineyards, and there was time
to pray, contemplate, listen and be alone with God. We have to walk in solitude
with God and let God be with us. I experienced God’s presence in my life, and
equally powerful was the generosity of various pilgrims. When I ran out of
water, someone gave me a bottle of water.
“The Camino is a metaphor for life,” he said.
“We are all pilgrims, and my task is to help my fellow pilgrims
get to where we’re all trying to go. We are here to help the wounded keep
going.”
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