Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria (CCFN) was established in September 2010 by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), with a national mandate as a specialized development agency responsible for overall coordination of development programs for the Catholic Church a role it plays within Church and Society Department of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN).

CCFN is registered with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and can enter into contracts and agreements as a juridic or corporate entity, this is to facilitate development intervention and relations with funding partners in order to achieve greater professionalism. However it remains to all intents and purposes an agency of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, working broadly as part of the Church and Society department of the CBCN but not limited to it.
The Catholic Church in Nigeria has a total of 54 dioceses grouped into 9 provinces, serving an estimated Catholic population of about 30 million. CCFN serves as the umbrella organization supporting these regional institutions to implement programs based on local needs.

CCFN works in the following core thematic areas: Health and HIV/AIDS, Good Governance, Education, Emergency Response, Peace building, Environment and Gender as cross-cutting area. As part of the universal mission of the Church, CCFN works with local and international faith based and secular organizations on the basis of rights and need, not creed, race or nationality.