Caritas, housing-emergency plan ” “

The Catholic Church recently presented its “active participation plan” in the creation of “favourable conditions” in the area of social housing and for its full adoption in the Czech Republic. The idea was presented a few days ago by Cardinal Dominik Duka, President of the Bishops’ Conference, and by Lukas Curylo, director of Caritas in the Czech Republic. Church representatives sent an official letter on this issue to Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, in the hope that the government may be open to future cooperation. A priority issue. Card. Dominik Duka said that the Catholic Church’s interest to provide its help in the field of development and social housing was the object of consultations with other Christian Churches as it “represents a concrete answer to the invitation of politicians” in this field. The Catholic Church offers its experience that has matured especially thanks to numerous, fruitful activities of national and diocesan Caritas offices. Her will to participate in a serious dialogue on social housing has already been expressed on several occasions. For example, entire buildings owned by Caritas in Prague and in Ostrava have been assigned in summer 2014, for use by families hit by the social and economic crisis. “We consider the availability of housing at reasonable ensured prices for people in difficult situations one of our priorities”; said Jaroslav Nemec, director of Caritas Prague. As he told SIR Europe, mothers with children often end up in “an endless cycle of constant resorting to various kinds of social services, even those whose true necessity is to have a stable place to live at acceptable prices”. Concrete projects. “The purpose of social housing is to offer economically convenient apartments, where people can ‘restart’ their lives wounded by job loss, by the confiscation of goods due to their debts, or even by imprisonment. We accompany them in their desire of a completely new journey and we help them rediscover the meaning of life”, said Lukas Curylo. The inspiration can come from currently ongoing projects, such as shelter homes, reception homes, housing units for mothers in difficulty or for women victims of abuse, thereby offering a “well-integrated service system”. The Catholic Church plans to invest millions of crowns each year in social housing. “The share of our financial contribution will depend on the legislative measures that will be adopted and by the strategies of the respective dioceses”, pointed out Tomas Holub, general secretary of the Bishops’ Conference, who pointed out that the Church’s support in this preparatory phase is offered with the creation of adequate legislation. A useful, well-designed system should be understood from this perspective in order to provide space to charitable ecclesial bodies to present and promote concrete support projects and carry out their activity in the field of social housing. “Years of experience in the field of services to persons in difficulty as well as our network, unique in its kind, deeply-rooted in all corners of the Country, show that we can provide concrete help, and we hope that the government will take this into account in the future”, Curylo added, with the hope that cooperation in this field will contribute to the “elimination of pre-existing ghettos” resulting from chaos and from lack of attention to this area in the past. Advantages for society as a whole. “The solidity and organic feature of our work with the groups of destination – consisting mainly of mothers with children, unemployed persons, ethnic minorities and large families – not only in the areas of housing, but also in other important areas in life, with the purpose of restoring a sense of dignity and their return to normality, is one of the most important contributions of our work in society”, states the letter to Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka written by the president of the Bishops’ Conference. Card. Duka focused attention on the adoption of law n. 428/2012 on the concordat regarding property between the State and the Catholic Church and on the possibilities offered by this legislation in the area of supply of services and related funding. The Czech Bishops’ Conference views the implementation of social housing projects as a basic possibility in view of the “ethical investments for citizens”. The primate of the Catholic Church hopes that joint efforts by state institutions and Churches will translate into a system of quantified and organized help in the field of social housing, providing not only short-term solutions but also a stable framework for this service aimed at the improvement of the situation of individuals and of wellbeing in general.