After a life-changing experience, the Slovak priest runs a centre that provides shelter for people facing very vulnerable situations such as domestic violence, homelessness or substance addiction. “We cannot turn a blind eye to their sufferance,” says Fr. Kuffa.

On 31 May, I had the pleasure of attending the study visit to Slovakia by the Caritas Europa Community of Practice (CoP) on Roma Inclusion. We visited Žakovce, a village in the municipality of Kežmarok, near the Polish border. Here, Father Marian Kuffa runs a centre that provides shelter for people of different ages and origins who are facing very vulnerable and complex situations, such as domestic violence, homelessness, life after imprisonment, severe poverty or substance addiction.

This centre is predominantly populated by the Roma ethnic minority. Fr. Kuffa’s charitable work consists of more than just the provision of immediate support – such as food, hygiene and sleeping facilities -, it also represents a sustainable model of social economy. From baking bread to farming and cattle raising, the local community also works on gardening, cooking and any other necessary maintenance operations. This community of about 300 persons are deeply involved in the daily operations of the Centre, which includes a farm and a bakery. The residents participate in the day-to-day chores as well as in all the tasks needed to promote the centre’s sustainability and production of goods that are sold to the broad public. During this visit, we soon learned Father Kuffa is also an active member of this community, working closely with the staff and the residents to create a supportive and nurturing environment.

His inspiring words resonated in the Chapel, where he told the group about a life-changing experience that strengthened his Catholic faith and brought him to a path of serving and loving others. After suffering a life-threatening accident when mountain climbing that took him months to recover from* young Marian Kuffa felt it was his prayers and his faith that saved him.  In his words :

God was giving him an opportunity to become a better person, to live his life with a deep purpose and to devote his mission to the community, especially to persons struggling with very delicate life situations, with little to no support (nor sympathy) from their family, the social services or other entities.

He decided to become a priest and since then he has been sharing “the bread” (both literally and spiritually) and providing warmth and support to others. As we noticed in the centre, his generous and compassionate vision has been leading his work and his life, granting him the respect of a broad community and increasing the ties to local and national organisations, partners and even volunteerswho want to take part in this mission. Besides the shelter in Žakovce, Father Kuffa also works on a regular basis with the Roma communities who live in marginalised settlements without sewage, electricity or running water, which is unfortunately a common reality for Roma in Slovakia, as we observed during the study visit.

He shared with the CoP his thoughts on how important it isto not turn a blind eye to these unacceptable situations, the infringements on dignity and human rights. He spoke about the importance of being present, to get to know the situations and to provide spiritual support or other help that is needed. And to use our voices and our knowledge to take the experiences we have seen (and felt) to other fora, to other networks, so that they are not forgotten. From what we had the opportunity to observe on our visit, the work that is being done in this centre in Žakovce constitutes a living example of Father Kuffa’s warming words: to live in love and to care for one another. A lesson to keep us going – hopefully, heartfully – on this long and steep journey Caritas is in, walking towards equality for all human beings.

Photos courtesy of Caritas Europa’s Community of Practice (CoP) on Roma Inclusion.

To learn more about Caritas Europa’s advocacy work, read the position paper on Roma inclusion. Read all articles here.