Events
“Although often invisible, they are part of our society because we are one big family”: the Director of Caritas Poland, Fr. Marcin Izycki, said this at the Marian Shrine of Jasna Gora as he kick-started the celebrations for the Week of the Poor that will culminate on Sunday, 19 November, coinciding with the first Day of the Poor instituted by Pope Francis. “Modern men and women have a tendency to close in on their own environment without seeing those surrounding them”, the priest went on to say, addressing the participants in the 12th national pilgrimage of the homeless. According to government data, there are over 33 thousand homeless people in Poland, of whom over 85 per cent are men. And it is for them that a number of initiatives aimed at providing medical, psychological and material support are being organised by several religious associations and groups of faithful in many Polish cities throughout the Week of the Poor. Although the most recent statistics (from 2016) show a slight improvement in the material situation of many segments of Polish society, 5 per cent of Poles still live in absolute poverty, while 14 per cent live in relative poverty. The improved economic situation brought about by the social policies implemented by the current government mainly benefited large families, those with disabled dependants, and residents in towns with less than 20 thousand inhabitants.
