Poland: report on Catholic charitable organizations

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“Charitable activity as a manifestation of religious freedom” is the title of the event held on March 16 at the Card. Stephan Wyszyńszy University of Warsaw during which the Report “Catholic charities. Report on Catholic charitable organizations and parish charitable activities” was presented.

“Catholic organizations form the largest aid network in Poland after public bodies and play an important role in the implementation of social services in the country”, for a total of over 4 million unitary services provided in 2019 – underlined Fr. Wojciech Sadłoń, director of the Statistics Institute of the Catholic Church, presenting the Report.

In 2019, 891 charitable works were active in Poland (of which 684 managed by Religious Orders and 207 diocesan or national) and over 65,000 at parish level.

The largest number of services provided concerns food aid and equipment. Over 1,200 charities are dedicated to helping children, adolescents and mothers in need; about 900 works concern emergency interventions and general aid, over 700 provide psychological help and family support, almost 600 for the homeless.

In 2019, the employees of charitable works numbered 40,000, while the volunteers 223,000. The total number of hours donated by volunteers can be estimated at 2.7 million.

From an economic point of view, one third of the entities organize fundraising and one fifth of them derive their income from autonomous entrepreneurial activities. Public administration support accounts for 59%.

At the parish level, there are 65,000 works in 11,000 parishes and the number of volunteers is around 2.6 million. The founders of this type of works are parish priests (51%), in a third of cases the initiative arises from the collaboration between parish priest and laity, and in 17% they are works created independently by lay people. The recipients of aid are mostly children and young people, especially those at risk of exclusion, but also the elderly, the poor and the disabled.

The charitable activities of the communities, mainly parish caritas, in almost half of the cases (49%), are carried out in agreement and cooperation with public institutions (including educational and cultural), although only 8% receive financial support for their activities from public funds. Aid comes mainly from collections and donations.

The study describes the situation in 2019, before the pandemic, although it also includes some data on the problems and involvement of charities over the past year. According to the Report, the pandemic has negatively affected the charitable works, both from the point of view of the functioning due to the introduction of new health rules and the transmission of the virus between operators and beneficiaries, and from the economic point of view due to the increase of operating costs. Nonetheless, many works have adapted to new needs and even expanded their activities to include other groups of needy.

The presentation was also attended by the Minister for Education and Sciences, Przemysław Czarnek who, in his greeting stated that “charity is a manifestation of religious freedom. If in our country charity can develop on such a large scale, this shows that religious freedom in Poland is at a high level. We must defend this religious freedom”. “I want to thank the Church in Poland, in a broad sense, for the great, continuous and consistent witness of love for one’s neighbor in the country and abroad, regardless of religious denomination” – added the Minister.

The Rector of the University Stephan Wyszyński, the Rev. Prof. Ryszar Czekalski attended the National Conference “Charitable activity as a manifestation of religious freedom” which was divided into 3 sections: The first part was dedicated to the international aspects of charitable aid. It was a discussion with the English-speaking students of the University, which was followed by the presentation of the Report. The second part dealt with the theological aspects, the legal conditioning, the areas of charitable action before and after 1989, and the work of the International Association “Aid to the Church in Need”. The third part dealt with the themes of interest that the charitable works of the Church arouse on the internet; religious freedom in the legislation of the European Institutions; mission and development aid; charity in the historical experience of the Church in Poland, with particular reference to the birth and development of charitable works in the Middle Ages.