Dresden (dpa/sn) - The bishop of the Dresden-Meißen diocese, Heinrich Timmerevers, considers the contribution of the social services of the church to be indispensable, especially in times of crisis. The employees in the Caritas facilities are also an important help in the current situation, he said on the 100th anniversary of the Caritas association on Friday in Dresden. They react "very quickly to acute needs and concerns" and have the old and sick as well as people with disabilities and in poverty in mind.
Situations like the current one are not new to the association. "Caritas has always struggled with challenges," said spokesman Andreas Schuppert. 100 years ago war widows would have cared for the wounded in the First World War. The association was banned under the Nazis, and in the GDR Caritas then operated daycare centers, facilities for people with disabilities, some hospitals and nursing homes under the protection of the church. "The association was only re-established in the summer of 1990."
According to Schuppert, the focus is on inpatient care for the elderly in eleven homes. The approximately 200 facilities with over 900 employees under the Caritas umbrella cover the entire range of welfare care, from debt and addiction counseling to help for refugees and the homeless.
According to Schuppert, the challenges are the shortage of skilled workers in the nursing homes as well as inflation and energy prices. "We miss children who were born 20 or 30 years ago." In addition to concrete help for the individual, Caritas is continuously committed to good and fair standards in the social policy of the state and municipalities, supported by the message of the gospel, said the bishop. "It combines love of God and neighbor, justice and mercy."
