Caritas Czech Republic

Founded 1922

79,000

Staff and volunteers

808,083

Beneficiaries

About Caritas Czech Republic

Caritas Czech Republic consists of eight diocesan Caritas organisations and 268 regional, city and parish Caritas, including Czech Catholic Caritas and Greek Catholic Caritas. It is the oldest non-profit organisation working at the national level and the country’s biggest non-state provider of social and health services. Through its 1,424 activities, it supports more than 190,000 people per year.

The diocesan Caritas provides help in all areas of need and focuses on activities such as health services, professional counselling in debt, hospice care, social enterprises, and more.

Caritas Czech Republic implements numerous humanitarian and development aid projects in 20 countries in the world.

The origins of the Catholic Caritas go back to the end of the First World War, when charities began operating in several places. In the spring of 1945, much before the authorities responded to the need for immediate assistance for returnees from concentration camps and other people affected by the war, it set up canteens, helped in the search for documents, cared for and treated people.

After the Communists took power in 1948, the state had, in a short time, deliberately pushed the Catholic Caritas out of its social and medical milieu. The entire Caritas network was abolished and replaced by a single voluntary organisation, which was the Czech Catholic Caritas. It was subject to state supervision and its activities had to be reduced to publishing religious press and literature, selling devotional articles and caring for elderly monks, nuns and priests.

A new era could begin after the 1989 regime change. In addition to voluntary assistance for the sick and collecting second-hand clothing, Caritas Czech Republic advocated, at the institutional level, for a human-centred approach to dealing with chronic diseases and disabilities of any sort to ease the integration of people with special needs into society. It also broached the theme of dignified dying and established home health care.

Since 1995 the organisation has been a full member of Caritas Europa and Caritas Internationalis and collaborates in partnership with other organisations to respond to humanitarian crises and work on aid development.

General information

Msgr. Pavel Posád
President

Mgr. et Mgr. Lukáš Curylo
Director

Mgr. Jakub Líčka
Secretary General

Address:
Vladislavova 12
Praha 1 CZ-11000
Czech Republic

Telephone: +420 2 96 24 33 44
Fax: +420 2 96 24 33 33
Email: sekretariat@caritas.cz
Website: http://www.charita.cz/
Facebook: @CharitaCR
Twitter: @CharitaCesko
LinkedIn: @Charita Česká republika
YouTube: @CharitaCR
Instagram: @charita_cesko

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