Caritas Slovakia’s rich history of helping those most in need dates back to its founding in 1927. After having been closed in 1950 in the years of the Cold War, during which the Caritas was only allowed to operate charitable hospices for the elderly as well as ill priests and nuns, with the fall of communism in 1989, Caritas Slovakia was able to resume its original mission and today provides charitable, social, healthcare, and educational services to the poor and marginalised.

With diocesan branches across Slovakia, programmes support assist abandoned and orphaned children, youth, families in need, people who are homeless, migrants and refugees, single mothers and the elderly, including hospice care. Caritas Slovakia also responds in the event of humanitarian emergencies, due to natural disasters and conflict.

Caritas Slovakia also carries out humanitarian projects and child sponsorship programmes abroad. They partner with other organisations on humanitarian and development projects to provide food, clothing, water, and shelter following natural disasters, such as floods, and support refugees in Africa, Asia and Europe.

The elderly and seniors struggling with their health constitute the largest group of beneficiaries of Caritas’ charitable services, supporting more than 5,000 elderly every year. Hospices have been established throughout Slovakia to provide medical, psychological, and spiritual support to the elderly and terminally ill. The hospice team consists of doctors, nurses, home health aides, social workers, counselors, and volunteers to provide medical supplies and equipment, home health aide services, social work services and spiritual support and counseling.

Finally, for more than 25 years Caritas Slovakia has been running distance adoption programmes to enable Slovakians to support underprivileged children in India, Albania, Haiti, Vietnam, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Uganda.

The Caritas Slovakia Secretariat is in Bratislava and their organisational structure consists of 10 diocesan and archdiocesan charities. Caritas Slovakia’s legal representative is the General Secretary, who is responsible for managing the activities of the Caritas Slovakia Secretariat. Caritas Slovakia is a member of the Caritas Internationalis confederation and Caritas Europa and often collaborates with other Caritas members to provide emergency aid and support to countries across the globe,, such as a development project with Caritas Slovenia.