SOCIAL AND CHARITY WORK OF THE

CHURCH

STRATEGIC GUIDELINES

Andrian Aleksandrov – editor

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© Andrian Aleksandrov – editor
ISBN 978-954-92940-7-1

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SOCIAL AND CHARITY WORK OF THE
CHURCH

STRATEGIC GUIDELINES

Compiled and edited by Andrian Aleksandrov

Regional Development Foundation
Sofia, 2014

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER ONE. THE SOCIAL TEACHING OF THE CHURCH ............................. 1
1. SOME FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL AND CHARITABLE WORK
ACCORDING TO THE DOCTRINE OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH ...................... 2
2. SOME KEY PRINCIPLES OF THE SOCIAL COMMITMENT OF CATHOLIC
CHURCH: WHY CHURCHES ENTER IN SOCIAL WORLD? ................................... 3
3. CHURCH AND SOCIETY: THE ROMAN CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING
BETWEEN MULTICULTURALITY AND ECUMENISM
........................................................................................................................................ 3
CHAPTER TWO. SOCIAL AND CHARITABLE WORK OF THE BULGARIAN AND
ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCHES ................................................................... 4
1. THE SOCIAL AND CHARITY WORK OF THE BULGARIAN ORTHODOX
CHURCH ...................................................................................................................... 5
2. THE SOCIAL AND CHARITY WORK OF THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX
CHURCH ...................................................................................................................... 6
3. DIFFICULTIES AND PROBLEMS FOR THE SOCIAL AND CHARITABLE
WORK OF THE BULGARIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
........................................................................................................................................ 5
4. DIFFICULTIES AND PROBLEMS FOR THE SOCIAL AND CHARITABLE
WORK OF THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
................................................................................................................................... 6
CHAPTER THREE. 1. BEST PRACTICES AND STRATEGIC GUIDELINES FOR
IMPROVING THE SOCIAL AND CHARITABLE WORK OF THE CHURCH
................................................................................................................................... 4
1.REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF BEST PRACTICES FOR SOCIAL AND
CHARITABLE WORK OF THE CHURCH
........................................................................................................................................ 5
2. SOCIAL WORK FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS IN THE NETHERLANDS ... 6
3. STRATEGIC GUIDELINES FOR IMPROVING THE SOCIAL AND
CHARITABLE WORK OF THE BULGARIAN CHURCH
........................................................................................................................................ 6
4. STRATEGIC GUIDELINES FOR IMPROVING THE SOCIAL AND
CHARITABLE WORK OF THE ROMANIAN CHURCH
........................................................................................................................................ 6
ANNEX . EU FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
................................................................................................................................... 4

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1. THE EUROPEAN UNION POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES 2014-2020 FOR THE
HUMAN AND SOCIAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILDREN AND
YOUTHS AT RISK OF EXCLUSION ........................................................................... 4
2.THE EUROPEAN FUNDS IN BULGARIA (2014–2020)
........................................................................................................................................ 4

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 INTRODUCTION

This paper was devised as a result of research carried out by qualified

theologians and other specialists employed specifically for the implementation of the
international project ―Development Through Social Inclusion‖, which is funded by
the Operational Programme ―Human Resources Development‖ (2007––2014) via the
European Social Fund. The project is implemented by Regional Development
Foundation (Bulgaria) in partnership with the Romanian ―Vasiliada‖ Association.
The main objective of the project was to create opportunities for development and to
strengthen the social work functions of the Church‘s organisations and official
structures through analysing and introducing innovative practices in the field of
social inclusion utilised by church organisations from Romania, Bulgaria and other
European countries. The project is aimed at Christian non-profit organisations from
Bulgaria and Romania, representatives of theological universities, organisations
within the official structure and hierarchy of the Church such as seminaries,
metropolitan centres, eparchies, urban and rural parishes, church boards, etc.
The project included an analysis of the social welfare work of the Bulgarian
and Romanian Orthodox Churches, an overview of the community engagement of
the Italian Catholic Church and a study of the experience of other Christian
denominations in Europe. Four working visits took place – two in Romania and two
in Italy – for church representatives and organisations within the Church. Those
visits afforded participants the opportunity to exchange experience, ideas and good
practices with regard to providing help to vulnerable populations and people in need
and to visit centres, community cooperatives and other institutions run by the
Church which assist the poor, immigrants, refugees, the unemployed, etc. This
document provides a summary of the research carried out by the specialists involved
in the project and of the knowledge gained during the working visits, by outlining
successful diakonic practices in Bulgaria, Romania, Italy and other European
countries, and includes recommendations for optimising the social welfare work
done by the Bulgarian and Romanian Orthodox Churches (BOC and ROC,
respectively) on the diocese and parish levels in assisting parishioners in need and
in the Churches‘ efforts to combat social exclusion in the community. We believe it is
very important that those practices will be successfully applied in the work of the
Orthodox Church at local level. To that end, the strategy presents innovative
community outreach practices used by BOC and ROC and by other European
churches, which could successfully be transferred and introduced on a local level.
As one of the objectives of this project is to increase church organisations‘ and
structures‘ capacity for developing EU-funded projects and programmes, this
strategy is not limited to EU funding opportunities available in Bulgaria and
Romania, but also includes European Union policies and programmes as well as
opportunities for applying for projects funded directly by the European Commission
or its centralised agencies.
The first section of this strategy is a short overview of the social teaching of
the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, and other chapters lists specific community
outreach practices of BOC, ROC and other Christian churches in Europe, in
particular their compassionate and charitable work in a wider, European context.
They include also recommendations for optimising the work of church organisations
and the Church‘s official structures on the local diocese and parish levels. Specific

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examples of the diakonia practised in the studied countries are cited. The role and
work of Christian organisations which support the Church in providing services to
people in need is also addressed. The annex of the strategy looks at specific policies
and programmes of the European Union for the 2014–2020 periods and presents the
EU operational programmes in Bulgaria and Romania.
International community outreach practices within churches and the
recommendations of experts found in this strategy are an important factor in
developing the social welfare work of the Orthodox Church in unison with the
Church‘s and the holy fathers‘ teachings. The strategy offers new methods for
diakonic work which corresponds to the needs of the Church and its members
engaged in assisting vulnerable populations.

The editor

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 CHAPTER ONE
THE SOCIAL TEACHING OF THE CHURCH

1. SOME FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL AND CHARITABLE

WORK ACCORDING TO THE DOCTRINE OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

Kostadin Nushev

Christianity is central to the history and modern development of many

European nations. Through its spiritual culture and ethics it continues to influence
different aspects of the society and the lives of the faithful even today. Since the very
beginning of the world mission of the Church, Christian believers have sought to
fulfill Christ‘s commandments and teachings for the love of our neighbour and the
ministry of charity.
Christian mercy is an act of selfless love of our neighbour devoted to the
suffering and needy people in the world. It is revealed in our good works and
genuine support for others. The physically, mentally and morally sick, as well as the
poor, the suffering and the oppressed, are, according to the teachings of Jesus
Christ, the main recipients of the Christian charity and the social work of the
Church. We must also remember the healthy, the prosperous, the rich and the ruling
whom the Church does not neglect but to whom She preaches with much love,
patience and hope exhorting them to do justice and be solidary with the poor and the
needy.
The fundamental principle of Christian good work and charity is to do it for
the honour of God and as an expression of the love of Christ. In the Gospel the
Saviour says, ―I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing‖ (John
15:5). In the Christian world the connection with God is an essential prerequisite for
acts of charity whose good results are revealed not only in our world but also in
eternity. Another equally important prerequisite for the veracity of charitable acts is
the spiritual condition of man or the content of his heart which brings forth not only
his works but also his intentions and thoughts, ―A good man out of the treasure of
his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure
of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his
mouth speaketh‖ (Luke 6:45).
The Early Church used the words ευαγγελιον (gospel): ―he preached [the
gospel] in all the cities,‖ (Acts 8:40), κηρυγμα (preaching): ―And straightaway he
preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God‖ (Acts 9:20), and
διακονια (service): ―he hath served with me in the gospel‖ (Phil. 2:22) to express the
most important aspects of Christian life. The Ministry of the Church is the ministry
of the apostles whom Jesus Christ sent out among the people. Orthodox tradition
and theology refer to such ministry as ―social service‖ or ―social apostolate‖.
It is precisely the social service, through which the spiritual and socio-

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psychological status of disabled people is changed, as well as the nature of social
relations that are at the heart of Christian charity and the social mission of the
Church.
According to the Christian doctrine of the Church, which is based on the
Gospel and is revealed in the works of many Christian teachers and Fathers of the
Eastern and the Western Church, man is valued over material possessions and the
dignity of his personality, made in the image of God and after His free will (Gen.
1:26-27), warrants respect for man‘s fundamental human rights and their
corresponding civil and public interests rather than suppression and determination
of his right of free choice in society by different political, utilitarian, eudemonistic
and collectivist ideologies and utopian systems.
An integral part of the social mission of the Church is the innate value of its
good doings and the selfless nature of Christian charity, which is an act of mercy for
the suffering and good for goodness‘ sake. The good that Christians do to the needy
and the suffering in this world is not decreed by a desire for gain, benefit or profit.
The Christian concept of a merciful, selfless and social good may be applied to the
social work of state and public institutions or of individual people and donors. The
recipients of the social mission of the Church may also draw the attention of other
public organisations or individuals. However, in Christianity the nature of pleasing
our neighbour is always distinguished by the glow of love and charity.
In its social ministry the Church follows the universal Christian values and
applies this spirit of Christian universalism to its practical acts of charity as well.
According to Scripture, God created man and ―hath made of one blood all nations of
men for to dwell on all the face of the earth,‖ (Acts 17:26) ―For in him we live, and
move, and have our being,‖ (Acts 17:28).
These New Testament texts clearly speak of the existential relationship
between God and men and the spirit of brotherhood among men themselves, as well
as of all positive consequences arising from such existentialism.
According to the Orthodox doctrine, each act of charity is a measure of our
Christian love and devotion to God. However, the care for children and for the sick,
the hungry and the homeless, being the most vulnerable and defenceless members of
society, is a distinct sign of Christian mercy.
In view of the universal and divine nature of evangelical social principles and
their eternal value and validity, Jesus exhorted that they be honoured for the good
they carry and for the spiritual benefit of those pursuing them in their relations
with their brothers.
The respect for our neighbour, inspired by our love of God, lays the
foundation for the hierarchy of values underpinning our relationship with God and
with people. This respect and love of God, which manifests itself as fear, obedience
and deep devotion to God‘s will, is also reflected in our relationship with our
neighbour, who is our brother in Christ and a spirit child of God. To the fullest
extent this attitude of Christian altruism is manifested in the compassion and care
for the weakest and those most oppressed, suffering and destitute among people.
The social mission of the Church is built according to the precepts underlying
the moral teachings of Jesus Christ, as laid out in the gospels and in the other books
of the New Testament. Christ‘s moral and social doctrine, pertinent to the new
spiritual kingdom of righteousness and love, was clearly not developed in a
systematic manner as this was not needed at the time. From the perspective of
contemporary projects for social development and in view of the relations between

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the Church and society, this is not necessary.
The strength of the social doctrine of Jesus Christ lies in its spiritual
profundity and potency, and not in its systematic and methodological disorderliness.
Hence, it can always be called upon to inspire timeless concepts and values for
building a better society at any given moment in history. This is a doctrine
inexhaustible, dynamic and universal – qualities that render it timeless and
perpetually relevant, and which it breathes into any benevolent or social activity of
which it is the cause.
The Christian doctrine of the Church binds the principle of social justice to
the fundamental values of human dignity, mercy and love of our neighbour. The
Church calls upon Her members to be hard-working Christians and to serve their
neighbours and the community in a spirit of Christian mercy and selflessness.
Public good is an integral element of the structure of socially just public order, and,
therefore, for the Church it is the basis for defining social justice in the areas of
public life and social philosophy.
More recently there have appeared various ideological schools for the study of
justice, and different systematic visions have been championed within
utilitarianism, eudemonism and social materialism. These socio-political schools
often study the concept of the just distribution of rights and wealth in society within
the context of the binary opposition of individualism and collectivism. As measures
of social justice, individual interest and public good (utilitas publica) are not opposed
in Christian ethics, but are allied with the public interest in a spiritual
understanding of the foundation and moral precepts of just social order. Christian
ethical personalism rejects the principle of sacrificing one‘s own personality and
individual human rights for any social eudemonism or for the utilitarian collectivist
system of social ethics.
Today the Christian social ministry of the Church is confronted by multiple
grave social and moral issues, as well as by the extremes of materialism and various
other ideologies. Indifference and apathy, cold-heartedness and human alienation,
the crash of moral values and spirituality dwell side-by-side with the severe social
and economic crisis in society. The Christian understanding of social justice and
personal dignity is based on a system of fundamental values and virtues dominated
by freedom, equality, solidarity and mercy.
The history of Christianity among the Bulgarian people and the upturn in
cultural, social and political life have advanced the Church to a position of powerful
spiritual institution held in high esteem by believers and other local churches alike.
As a religious institution the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous
patriarchate and is an integral part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
It has been deeply involved in the history of the Bulgarian people ever since the
conversion and spread of Christianity in the 9th century and throughout the
centuries-old tradition of the Bulgarian state.
Despite the ordeals of the Bulgarian people in certain historical periods, the
Church has remained the most stable institution and the strongest spiritual factor of
internal and national significance for social cohesion. Since the beginning of the
political changes in the country, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has been gradually
embracing in its ministry and pastoral practices a tendency to restore and renew its
social mission in a context of new democratic norms and standards of structuring
civil society and in accordance with the principles of respect for the personal dignity
and the fundamental human rights and individual freedoms of each citizen. In times

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of difficult social and political transition in the country the Bulgarian Orthodox
Church clearly recognizes its public responsibility and social mission in the modern
world and seeks to develop its Christian charity in the spirit of Christian values and
in observance of the European norms and standards of respect for the freedom of
conscience, fundamental human rights and social justice.

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 2. SOME KEY PRINCIPLES OF THE SOCIAL COMMITMENT OF
CATHOLIC CHURCH: WHY CHURCHES ENTER IN SOCIAL WORLD?

Fabrizio Mandreoli

In this research there are two targets: the former is to provide historical and
theoretical elements to better understand the effort made by a part of the Catholic
Church to side with man‘s questions and needs; the latter is to highlight how such
elements can help today‘s reflection on social work and its practice. We have
identified a main idea and two steps to better understand this idea: 1) a historical
path of western Christianity on the relationship between gospel teaching and the
commitment to the poor; full aware of the existence of many moral traditions in
eastern and western Christianity; 2) an analysis of some meaningful experiences of
such commitment in the Italian Church in the after-war period, in particular in the
period after the second Vatican council (starting from 1965); this analysis help us to
grasp the principles and guidelines of such social commitment. This last point will
be dealt with through a synthesis of historical path, meaningful experiences and
social-theological principles in order to answer to our basic question: why Churches
enter in social world?
The main idea of our survey can be easily described claiming that the
Christian message ―has a clear social content: at the very heart of the Gospel is life
in community and engagement with others. The content of the first proclamation
has an immediate moral implication centred on charity‖ (Evangelii gaudium n. 177).
In fact: ―Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthly life and
especially by his death and resurrection, is the principal driving force behind the
authentic development of every person and of all humanity. Love — caritas — is an
extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous
engagement in the field of justice and peace‖ (Caritas in Veritate n. 1).

First step: historical survey up to the Vatican II

Reflection and practice in the New Testament

In this section we seeks: a) to find out in some texts of the New Testament
why christianism, stemming from its Jewish and biblical roots, developed a
particular sensitivity for the poor and helpless people; b) to better understand how,
starting from the witness of the first churches of the New Testament, this
perspective became a basic way of thinking of the Christian community during
history. We can find a very good summary of these ideas in four paragraphs of
Evangelii gaudium. Starting from the paragraph 178 the bishop of Rome states: ―To
believe in a Father who loves all men and women with an infinite love means
realizing that ―he thereby confers upon them an infinite dignity‖. To believe that the
Son of God assumed our human flesh means that each human person has been
taken up into the very heart of God. To believe that Jesus shed his blood for us
removes any doubt about the boundless love which ennobles each human being. Our
redemption has a social dimension because ―God, in Christ, redeems not only the
individual person, but also the social relations existing between men‖. To believe

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that the Holy Spirit is at work in everyone means realizing that he seeks to
penetrate every human situation and all social bonds: ―The Holy Spirit can be said
to possess an infinite creativity, proper to the divine mind, which knows how to
loosen the knots of human affairs, even the most complex and inscrutable‖.
Evangelization is meant to cooperate with this liberating work of the Spirit. The
very mystery of the Trinity reminds us that we have been created in the image of
that divine communion, and so we cannot achieve fulfilment or salvation purely by
our own efforts. From the heart of the Gospel we see the profound connection
between evangelization and human advancement, which must necessarily find
expression and develop in every work of evangelization. Accepting the first
proclamation, which invites us to receive God‘s love and to love him in return with
the very love which is his gift, brings forth in our lives and actions a primary and
fundamental response: to desire, seek and protect the good of others. This
inseparable bond between our acceptance of the message of salvation and genuine
fraternal love appears in several scriptural texts which we would do well to meditate
upon, in order to appreciate all their consequences. The message is one which we
often take for granted, and can repeat almost mechanically, without necessarily
ensuring that it has a real effect on our lives and in our communities. How
dangerous and harmful this is, for it makes us lose our amazement, our excitement
and our zeal for living the Gospel of fraternity and justice! God‘s word teaches that
our brothers and sisters are the prolongation of the incarnation for each of us: ―As
you did it to one of these, the least of my brethren, you did it to me‖ (Mt 25:40). The
way we treat others has a transcendent dimension: ―The measure you give will be
the measure you get‖ (Mt 7:2). It corresponds to the mercy which God has shown us:
―Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be
judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be
forgiven; give, and it will be given to you… For the measure you give will be the
measure you get back‖ (Lk 6:36-38). What these passages make clear is the absolute
priority of ―going forth from ourselves towards our brothers and sisters‖ as one of the
two great commandments which ground every moral norm and as the clearest sign
for discerning spiritual growth in response to God‘s completely free gift. For this
reason, ―the service of charity is also a constituent element of the Church‘s mission
and an indispensable expression of her very being‖. By her very nature the Church
is missionary; she abounds in effective charity and a compassion which understands,
assists and promotes. Reading the Scriptures also makes it clear that the Gospel is
not merely about our personal relationship with God. Nor should our loving response
to God be seen simply as an accumulation of small personal gestures to individuals
in need, a kind of ―charity à la carte‖, or a series of acts aimed solely at easing our
conscience. The Gospel is about the kingdom of God (cf. Lk 4:43); it is about loving
God who reigns in our world. To the extent that he reigns within us, the life of
society will be a setting for universal fraternity, justice, peace and dignity. Both
Christian preaching and life, then, are meant to have an impact on society. We are
seeking God‘s kingdom: ―Seek first God‘s kingdom and his righteousness, and all
these things will be given to you as well‖ (Mt 6:33). Jesus‘ mission is to inaugurate
the kingdom of his Father; he commands his disciples to proclaim the good news
that ―the kingdom of heaven is at hand‖ (Mt 10:7). The kingdom, already present
and growing in our midst, engages us at every level of our being and reminds us of
the principle of discernment which Pope Paul VI applied to true development: it
must be directed to ―all men and the whole man‖. We know that ―evangelization

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would not be complete if it did not take account of the unceasing interplay of the
Gospel and of man‘s concrete life, both personal and social‖. This is the principle of
universality intrinsic to the Gospel, for the Father desires the salvation of every man
and woman, and his saving plan consists in ―gathering up all things in Christ,
things in heaven and things on earth‖ (Eph 1:10). Our mandate is to ―go into all the
world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation‖ (Mk 16:15), for ―the
creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God‖ (Rom
8:19). Here, ―the creation‖ refers to every aspect of human life; consequently, ―the
mission of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ has a universal destination. Its
mandate of charity encompasses all dimensions of existence, all individuals, all
areas of community life, and all peoples. Nothing human can be alien to it‖. True
Christian hope, which seeks the eschatological kingdom, always generates history‖.

The fathers‘ Church: Augustine and Basil

The legacy of the New Testament and of the Apostolic time developed in a
significant way, in the still undivided Church, both in Eastern and Western
christianism. In the West we have the thinking and practice of Augustine, who
conceived the charity as the structural principle of the Christian life. In his
reflection that perspective played a role both ecclesiological, structuring the concrete
life of the local Churches, and theological – political, i.e. charity shapes the life of the
Church in history and in the world. The most eloquent and significant text in this
regard is 'The City of God'. A really meaningful witness in the Eastern reflection
and practice is Basil. He was deeply engaged to find the essential dogmatic identity
of christianism and to highlight the basic attitude of Christian life, including the
fundamental care for the poor. In fact he personally organized a soup kitchen and
distributed food to the poor during a famine following a drought. He gave away his
personal family inheritance to benefit the poor of his diocese. His letters show that
he actively worked to reform thieves and prostitutes. He had the courage to criticize
public officials who failed in their duty of administering justice. At the same time, he
preached every morning and evening in his own church to large congregations of
Christians about the basic features of a disciple‘s life. In an indeed consequential
way he built a large complex just outside Caesarea, called the Basiliad, which
included a poorhouse, hospice, and hospital.

The Middle Ages: confraternities, hospices, hospitals, franciscan spirituality

The research will focus on some specific issues within the complex
development of western medieval Christianity after the highly problematic
separation from eastern christianism. This focus allows us to observe how the
theological and practical principles of the New Testament and of the first Church
continued to shape the life of the church and in a way the life of entire society in the
low Middle Ages. We mention at least three crucial factors of this development.
a) The progressive development in the twelfth century of a new devotional
form to the suffering body of Christ on the cross. There is a new piety for the
humanity of Jesus. This development had strong roots in the evangelical tales and
produced a new sensitivity to the human suffering and to their care.
b) For this reason, together with other historical and sociological reasons,
there was the initial spread of a mixed institution: the hospital. The hospitals in

14
Europe spread mainly from the eleventh century, in parallel with the resumption of
large-scale movement of people. They were mainly "hospices", where those who could
not afford hotels and taverns were hosted for free and refreshed. In large part, the
main beneficiaries of the hospitals were mostly pilgrims, especially during the
jubilee years, and secondly the poor. They were arranged along the transit routes in
the city as in the countryside, and structures were religiously motivated, organized
structurally and legally as monasteries, such as confraternities. These are the
institutions that slowly evolved to become specialized institutions for the care of the
body.
c) In that context a very significant role was played by the birth and the
spread of new religious orders, among them in particular the Franciscans. Their
propagation was in fact connected to a new sensitivity to the role of the laity - simple
baptized in the Church - who were looking for ways appropriate to their condition of
life, in order to fully live the teachings of the gospel (cf. A. Vauchez). This new lay
spirituality was channeled well into organized forms of care for the poor. It was
precisely the Franciscan spirituality that allowed a specific rediscovery of the
dignity and worth of the poor. We can quote here some paragraphs of Saint Francis‘
Rule – chapter I and IX - which are impressive showing the new Franciscan
perspective:

CHAPTER I THAT THE FRIARS SHOULD LIVE WITHOUT [ANYTHING OF] ONE'S OWN
AND IN CHASTITY AND OBEDIENCE

The Rule and life of these friars is this, namely, to live in obedience, in
chastity and without [anything of] one's own, and to follow the doctrine and footsteps
of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who said: ―If you want to be perfect, go and sell all (cf Lk
18,22) that you have, and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in Heaven;
and come, follow Me‖ (Mt 19:21). And ―If anyone wants to come after Me, let him
deny his very self and take up his cross and follow Me‖ (Mt 16,24). Likewise: ―If
anyone wants to come to Me and does not hate father and mother and wife and sons
and daughters, moreover and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple‖ (Lk 14,26)
And: ―All, who forsake father and mother, brothers and sisters, wife or sons, homes
or fields for My sake, will receive a hundredfold and will posses eternal life‖ (cf Mt
19:29; Mk 10:29; Lk 18;29).

CHAPTER IX: ON SEEKING ALMS

Let all the friars strive to follow the humility and poverty of Our Lord Jesus
Christ and let them remember, that it is proper that we have nothing else of this
world, except, as the Apostles says, as ones having foot and that with which we are
clothed, we are content with these (cf 1 Tim 6:8). And they should rejoice, when they
are among vile and despised persons, among the poor and weak and infirm and
lepers and those begging along the road. And when it will have been necessary, let
them go about for alms. And let them not be ashamed but rather let them
remember, because Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Almighty living God (Jn
11:27), set His face like the hardest rock (Is 50:7), nor was He ashamed; and He was
poor and a guest and lived by alms, Himself and the Blessed Virgin and His
disciples. And when men show the diffidence and are not willing to give them alms,
let them render thanks to God on that account; because for [this] diffidence they will

15
receive great honour before the tribunal of Our Lord Jesus Christ. And let them
know, that shame is imputed not to those who suffer it, but to those who render it.
And alms are the inheritance and justice, which are due to the poor, which Our Lord
Jesus Christ obtained for us. And the friars, who labour in acquiring these, will have
a great wage and will makes those who grant these profit and acquire [the same
great wage]; because all that men leave in the world will perish, but for the charity
and alms, which they give, they will have a reward from the Lord. And let one
fearlessly manifest to the other his own need, so that [the latter] may find for him
what is necessary and minister [it to him]. And whoever would love and nourish his
brother, as a mother loves and nourishes her son (cf 1 Th 2:7), may God bestow grace
upon him for their sake. And ―let him who does not eat, not judge him who does‖
(Rom 14,3b) (…).

The Tridentine era: the parish church as a principle of capillarity of the

Church close to human beings, whose needs (both spiritual and material) are equally
important

In the transition of the first modernity and in the confessionalization era -

after the split between the Church of Rome and the Churches of the reforms – there
was a severe restructuring of Christianity in the West. In a special way there was
the development of a more structured and organized parish network. A parish is a
community which gathers people of a given territory and symbolizes a very
particular and capillary presence of the Church in the towns and villages (cf. G. Le
Bras). Parishes were local cells of the Church which had a strong ability, on one
hand, to be a symbol of popular and religious ferment, and, on the other hand, to
help and support poor people. The most important principle for our research
concerns the ubiquity of the presence of the parish in people's lives and the ability to
give an identity to those who live in humble conditions. It is no coincidence that the
most significant figure of the Tridentine period - and of the corresponding
ecclesiological and social paradigm (cf. P. Prodi) - were the bishop and the parish
priest, described through the image of the good shepherd in the reform decrees of the
Council of Trent. It is in this new situation for the West - from the beginning of '500
till the middle of '900 - that the parish became, often, the place of multiple forms of
assistance, that were at once practical and religious, spiritual and physical (cf. J.
O‘Malley).

The end of the XIX century: the rise of the social teaching of the church with
the first encyclicals in relationship with the economic and workers‘ issues and with
the change in man‘s living conditions.

With the development of modernity, also the ‗social doctrine‘ of the Church
developed and the starting point was the encyclical Rerum Novarum written in 1891
by Pope Leo XIII on capital and labor. The social doctrine is implicit in the Christian
message itself and its large nucleus is composed of famous speeches and encyclicals
of the popes such as Quadragesimo Anno in 1931 by Pope Pius XI, Mater et
Magistra in 1961 by Pope John XXIII, Populorum Progressio in 1967 by Pope Paul
VI, Centesimus Annus in 1991 by Pope John Paul II, and Caritas in Veritate in 2009
by Pope Benedict XVI. These papal documents were the result not only of the
magisterium of the Church, but also of the general debate inside the Catholic world.

16
In order to make better understand the spirit and the intentionality of the social
teaching of the Church we could mention two iconic texts. the first numbers (n. 1-3)
of Popolorum progressio of Paul VI: ―The progressive development of peoples is an
object of deep interest and concern to the Church. This is particularly true in the
case of those peoples who are trying to escape the ravages of hunger, poverty,
endemic disease and ignorance; of those who are seeking a larger share in the
benefits of civilization and a more active improvement of their human qualities; of
those who are consciously striving for fuller growth. With an even clearer
awareness, since the Second Vatican Council, of the demands imposed by Christ's
Gospel in this area, the Church judges it her duty to help all men explore this
serious problem in all its dimensions, and to impress upon them the need for
concerted action at this critical juncture. Our recent predecessors did not fail to do
their duty in this area. Their noteworthy messages shed the light of the Gospel on
contemporary social questions. There was Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novarum,
Pius XI's encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, Pius XII's radio message to the world, and
John XXIII's two encyclicals, Mater et Magistra and Pacem in Terris. Today it is
most important for people to understand and appreciate that the social question ties
all men together, in every part of the world. John XXIII stated this clearly, and
Vatican II confirmed it in its Pastoral Constitution on The Church in the World of
Today. The seriousness and urgency of these teachings must be recognized without
delay. The hungry nations of the world cry out to the peoples blessed with
abundance. And the Church, cut to the quick by this cry, asks each and every man to
hear his brother's plea and answer it lovingly‖. Secondly we mention the first
number (n. 2 - 6) of Caritas in veritate: ―Charity is at the heart of the Church's social
doctrine. Every responsibility and every commitment spelt out by that doctrine is
derived from charity which, according to the teaching of Jesus, is the synthesis of
the entire Law (cf. Mt 22:36- 40). It gives real substance to the personal relationship
with God and with neighbour; it is the principle not only of micro-relationships (with
friends, with family members or within small groups) but also of macro-relationships
(social, economic and political ones) […]Through this close link with truth, charity
can be recognized as an authentic expression of humanity and as an element of
fundamental importance in human relations, including those of a public nature.
Only in truth does charity shine forth, only in truth can charity be authentically
lived. Truth is the light that gives meaning and value to charity […] Caritas in
veritate is the principle around which the Church's social doctrine turns, a principle
that takes on practical form in the criteria that govern moral action. I would like to
consider two of these in particular, of special relevance to the commitment to
development in an increasingly globalized society: justice and the common good
[…]‖. From these words we can infer that the social teaching of the Church is not a
new idea for the modern time, but has been a constant concern since the time of the
Fathers of the Church and was important also in the Middle Ages. But we must
admit that the end of the XIX century and the beginning of the XX one was a really
complex period for the western world and also the catholic world was crossed and
shaken by many tensions and conflicts. For our theme it is important to underline
that in this period the Church developed slowly - and with different contradictions –
the ability to analyze the social and economic life in its guidelines and in its
systematic framework. The interventions of the social reflection of the Church
developed a critical analysis of social, political and economic systems: this one was
the most outstanding feature of the social doctrine. It was, therefore, a clear

17
acknowledgment of the complexity of the modern situation and this meant hard
work to refine appropriate tools for analysis corresponding also to the main ideas of
Christian revelation. In parallel to this new perception of social problems innovative
forms of apostolate were conceived, in which attention to the poor - based on the
method ‗see, judge and act‘ - produced multiple forms of spiritual and material
assistance to those who live in poor conditions, in relation also to new conditions of
life in the industrialized world. In this period many religious congregations were
born with a special commitment to education issues, to care for orphans, workers,
migrants, to those who live in - human, economic, cultural, spiritual - situations of
underdevelopment. In the half of the XX century the two world wars raised a new
sensitivity to the problems of war and to the dramatic link between faith and human
solidarity. A good expressions of this concern can be easily found in John XXIII‘s
Pacem in terris – written some years after the end of WW II - which begins with
these words: ―Peace on Earth—which man throughout the ages has so longed for and
sought after—can never be established, never guaranteed, except by the diligent
observance of the divinely established order‖.

A survey on the Mission de France and the practice of the ‗priests in

factories‘: a Church close to the oppressed‘s living conditions

The Mission de France was established in 1941 by Cardinal Emmanuel

Suhard to "tear down the wall" that separates the Church from the company of men.
In particular, there was the acute perception that many parts of France were in a
de-Christianized situation. Especially the new conditions of urban life and industrial
production had dug a moat between the Church and the conditions and lives of the
workers. In this perspective developed a reflection of many who were committed not
only to evangelize and to give sacraments, but also to help those who found
themselves in situations of fatigue and marginalization. True to this spirit of
encounter and dialogue with those who did not share the Christian faith, priests and
many lay people formed the Mission de France. The experience has had its moment
of wide notoriety in the years immediately preceding the Second Vatican Council.
The Mission de France has inspired the movement of the worker priests, which,
dramatic suspended in the fifties by Vatican authority, was promoted again after the
Council. Within this set of problems we should remember the reflection and the
witness of M. Delbrel that in those years (‗40 - ‘60) worked as a social worker in Ivry
sur Seine, a place in the south of Paris. Her reflections on the relationship between
the gospel, church, the social service and the communists were and are still of great
interest and really inspiring.

Step Two: historical and theological overview from the second Vatican
Council up to the present

Since Vatican II new ideas and perspectives have developed: closeness to

mankind (Gaudium et Spes), closeness to the poor (Lumen Gentium and Lercaro‘s
speeches), the Church‘s choice of poverty (John XXIII and H. Camara), ecclesial
discernment of world‘s problems by the Church, which is the sacrament of universal
salvation (Lumen Gentium e Gaudium et Spes), the issue of peace (encyclical Pacem
in terris), an increased commitment for justice (for example the reception of Vatican
II in Latin America: O. Romero‘s and I. Ellacuria‘s works – issues which are now

18
part of Pope Francis‘ teaching). In order to grasp the spirit and the letter of the
council it‘s very important to remember an official - and impressive - speech of
Cardinal Lercaro on December ‗63 about the poverty of Christ and of the Church,
which deeply roots every kind of Christian-commitment to justice, peace and poor
people in the mistery of Christ.
After the Vatican II the option for the poor or the preferential option for the
poor became one of the basic principles of the Catholic social teaching as articulated
in the 20th century. The phrase "option for the poor" was firstly used by Father
Pedro Arrupe, Superior General of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1968 in a letter to
the Jesuits of Latin America. The principle was articulated by the Catholic Bishops
of Latin America (CELAM) at the influential conferences in Medellin and Puebla, as
well as by several popes, particularly Pope John Paul II. What is the theological and
historical meaning of this option for the poor? It refers primarily to the special place
of the poor in God‘s people. In order to better understand this – theological and
practical – tool we should focus again on some numbers of Evangelii gaudium and
then on a passage of Popolorum progressio. In number 197 of Evangelii gaudium the
Bishop of Rome affirms: ―God‘s heart has a special place for the poor, so much so
that he himself ―became poor‖ (2 Cor 8:9). The entire history of our redemption is
marked by the presence of the poor. Salvation came to us from the ―yes‖ uttered by a
lowly maiden from a small town on the fringes of a great empire. The Saviour was
born in a manger, in the midst of animals, like children of poor families; he was
presented at the Temple along with two turtledoves, the offering made by those who
could not afford a lamb (cf. Lk 2:24; Lev 5:7); he was raised in a home of ordinary
workers and worked with his own hands to earn his bread. When he began to preach
the Kingdom, crowds of the dispossessed followed him, illustrating his words: ―The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to
the poor‖ (Lk 4:18). He assured those burdened by sorrow and crushed by poverty
that God has a special place for them in his heart: ―Blessed are you poor, yours is the
kingdom of God‖ (Lk 6:20); he made himself one of them: ―I was hungry and you
gave me food to eat‖, and he taught them that mercy towards all of these is the key
to heaven (cf. Mt 25:5ff.)‖. He continues in number 198: ―For the Church, the option
for the poor is primarily a theological category rather than a cultural, sociological,
political or philosophical one. God shows the poor ―his first mercy‖. This divine
preference has consequences for the faith life of all Christians, since we are called to
have ―this mind… which was in Jesus Christ‖ (Phil 2:5). Inspired by this, the
Church has made an option for the poor which is understood as a ―special form of
primacy in the exercise of Christian charity, to which the whole tradition of the
Church bears witness‖. This option […] ―is implicit in our Christian faith in a God
who became poor for us, so as to enrich us with his poverty‖. This is why I want a
Church which is poor and for the poor. They have much to teach us. Not only do they
share in the sensus fidei, but in their difficulties they know the suffering Christ. We
need to let ourselves be evangelized by them. The new evangelization is an
invitation to acknowledge the saving power at work in their lives and to put them at
the centre of the Church‘s pilgrim way. We are called to find Christ in them, to lend
our voice to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for
them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us
through them.‖ In Populorum progressio at the number 20 we find: ―If development
calls for an ever-growing number of technical experts, even more necessary still is
the deep thought and reflection of wise men in search of a new humanism, one which

19
will enable our contemporaries to enjoy the higher values of love and friendship, of
prayer and contemplation, and thus find themselves. This is what will guarantee
man's authentic development - his transition from less than human conditions to
truly human ones‖. These ideas produced also in Italy many new experiences: drug
addicted rehabilitation communities, community centres for young boys and girls,
family-homes, new visions of the school and education, a series of activities for basic
needs of people (housing, food, and health). In particular we focus on two exemplary
and enlightening experiences in Italy: Don Lorenzo Milani‗s school and Don Luigi di
Liegro‘s Caritas.

Don Lorenzo Milani‗s school in Barbiana and ‗Lettera ad una professoressa‘.

Lorenzo Milani was born in Florence in 1923 to a rich middle-class family.

His father, Albano Milani, and his mother, Alice Weiss, were staunch secularists.
Alice Weiss was Jewish and a cousin of Edoardo Weiss, one of Sigmund Freud's
earliest disciples and the founder of the Italian Psychoanalytic Association. Milani's
paternal grandfather was Domenico Comparetti, a leading nineteenth-century
philologist, and it is no accident that, as an educationist, Milani was a firm believer
in the importance of learning how to use words effectively. In June 1943, after a
period of study at the Brera Academy, Milani converted to Roman Catholicism. A
chance conversation with Don Raffaele Bensi, who later became his spiritual
director, appears to have played an important part in this. Milani's was a conversion
both from agnosticism to religious faith and from well-off complacency to solidarity
with the poor and despised. Ordained a priest in 1947, he was sent to assist Don
Daniele Pugi, the old parish priest of San Donato in Calenzano, where he set up his
first "school of the people" (scuola popolare), open to children from both believing
and nonbelieving families. This scandalized conservative Catholic circles. After
Pugi's death in 1954, Milani was sent "into exile" at Barbiana, a small, remote
village in the Mugello region. At Barbiana, despite both clerical and lay opposition,
Milani continued his radical educational activities. In the spring of 1958, he
published his first book, Pastoral Experiences (Esperienze pastorali). In December
the Holy Office, despite failing to find in it any errors of doctrine or breaches of
ecclesiastical discipline, ordered its withdrawal from circulation as "inopportune" In
1965, Milani was put on trial for advocating conscientious objection in his "Letter to
Military Chaplains" ("Lettera ai cappellani militari"). Working with his pupils,
Milani produced Letter to a Teacher (Lettera a una professoressa), denouncing the
inequalities of a class-based educational system that advantaged the children of the
rich over those of the poor. Translated into about forty languages, Letter to a
Teacher is a pedagogical classic that continues to shock and inspire. It was composed
by eight boys from the school of Barbiana, according to the "group writing" method,
in a year-long project coordinated by Milani. We can underline some key ideas of his
method and outlook on school, society and education: a)Milani founds his
methodology on cooperative learning; b) empirical data and events are the very
starting point of every analysis and reflection, and the evangelical values the prism
trough which judging situations; c) his point of view is constantly focused on the less
fortunate social classes; d) in particular on the cultural disadvantages and on the
limited access to better and further levels of education; e) shows a sharp pitiless
illustration of the discriminations in Italian schools and society; f) the realistic
presentation of Barbiana‘s school based on alternative way of learning, teaching and

20
organization; g) gives new decisive impulses to reconsider the role, principles and
aims of school in society. In 1967, shortly after the publication of Letter to a Teacher
and thirty days after his 44th birthday, Milani died in his mother's house in
Florence of leukemia, leaving back a huge amount of evangelical, sociological and
pedagogical insights.

Don Luigi di Liegro‘s Caritas in Rome and its multifaceted activities in the
social field in conjunction with the birth of the national and international Caritas.

He builds up a new method of social analysis and intervention and this

method is based on a few key ideas: a) starting from suburbs and peripheries; b)
taking into account both personal and collective problems; c) bearing in mind the
great social changes i.e. settlements, living conditions, weaknesses within family
contexts, lack of social welfare; d) assembling these social problems with political
and administrative responsibilities; e) a new spirituality is required in which there
is room for: the acceptance of the fragility and of disorder, the way of patience and
an attitude quiet and durable; a pressing concreteness; the primacy of the
relationship; the ethics of the faces (cf. E. Levinas). An outstanding and good
example of his methodology was given by the conference ‗I mali di Roma‘ which dealt
with the causes, responsibilities and the developments of such worrying issues. In
this conference some concrete steps were proposed in order to prompt a positive
evolution. Luigi Di Liegro applied this approach to several social fields ranging from
households, to homeless care, to immigrants policy, to attention to problems raised
by terrorists in those years. One of the most outstanding feature of his work was the
use both of a short-time approach and a long-time one.

As a final summary we can try to answer to our basic question: why Churches
enter in social world?

1. We refer essentially to the pope Franciscus letter Evangelii Gaudium

2. To evangelize is to make the kingdom of God present in our world.
3. If the social dimension of evangelization is not properly brought out, there is
a constant risk of distorting the authentic and integral meaning of the
mission of evangelization.
4. At the very heart of the Gospel is life in community and engagement with
others. The content of the first proclamation has an immediate moral
implication centred on charity.
5. From the heart of the Gospel we see the profound connection between
evangelization and human advancement, which must necessarily find
expression and develop in every work of evangelization.
6. Accepting the first proclamation, which invites us to receive God‘s love and to
love him in return with the very love which is his gift, brings forth in our
lives and actions a primary and fundamental response: to desire, seek and
protect the good of others.
7. To the extent that God reigns within us, the life of society will be a setting for
universal fraternity, justice, peace and dignity. Both Christian preaching and
life, then, are meant to have an impact on society.
8. Its mandate of charity encompasses all dimensions of existence, all
individuals, all areas of community life, and all peoples. Nothing human can

21
 be alien to it. True Christian hope, which seeks the eschatological kingdom,
always generates history.
9. It is no longer possible to claim that religion should be restricted to the
private sphere and that it exists only to prepare souls for heaven. We know
that God wants his children to be happy in this world too, even though they
are called to fulfillment in eternity, for he has created all things ―for our
enjoyment‖ (1 Tim 6:17), the enjoyment of everyone. It follows that Christian
conversion demands reviewing especially those areas and aspects of life
related to the social order and the pursuit of the common good.
10. The Church cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for
justice. All Christians, their pastors included, are called to show concern for
the building of a better world. This is essential, for the Church‘s social
thought is primarily positive: it offers proposals, it works for change and in
this sense it constantly points to the hope born of the loving heart of Jesus
Christ.
11. Each individual Christian and every community is called to be an instrument
of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to
be fully a part of society. This demands that we be docile and attentive to the
cry of the poor and to come to their aid.
12. The Church, guided by the Gospel of mercy and by love for mankind, hears
the cry for justice and intends to respond to it with all her might.
13. For the Church, the option for the poor is primarily a theological category
rather than a cultural, sociological, political or philosophical one. God shows
the poor ―his first mercy‖. This divine preference has consequences for the
faith life of all Christians, since we are called to have ―this mind… which was
in Jesus Christ‖ (Phil 2:5).
14. Inspired by this, the Church has made an option for the poor which is
understood as a special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity,
to which the whole tradition of the Church bears witness. This option – as
Benedict XVI has taught – ―is implicit in our Christian faith in a God who
became poor for us, so as to enrich us with his poverty‖. This is why I want a
Church which is poor and for the poor. They have much to teach us. Not only
do they share in the sensus fidei, but in their difficulties they know the
suffering Christ.
15. We can no longer trust in the unseen forces and the invisible hand of the
market. Growth in justice requires more than economic growth, while
presupposing such growth: it requires decisions, programmes, mechanisms
and processes specifically geared to a better distribution of income, the
creation of sources of employment and an integral promotion of the poor
which goes beyond a simple welfare mentality. I am far from proposing an
irresponsible populism, but the economy can no longer turn to remedies that
are a new poison, such as attempting to increase profits by reducing the work
force and thereby adding to the ranks of the excluded.
16. The Church proclaims ―the Gospel of peace‖ (Eph 6:15) and she wishes to
cooperate with all national and international authorities in safeguarding this
immense universal good. By preaching Jesus Christ, who is himself peace (cf.
Eph 2:14), the new evangelization calls on every baptized person to be a
peacemaker and a credible witness to a reconciled life.
17. The most important principles of the catholic though about social life are:

22
Subsidiarity is an organizing principle of decentralisation, stating that a
matter ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest, or least centralised
authority capable of addressing that matter effectively.
Solidarity is unity (as of a group or class) that produces or is based on
universities of interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies. It refers to
the ties in a society ties in a society that bind people together as one.
Private property is a fundamental principle of catholic Church; but private
property always has to serve the common good.

23
 3. CHURCH AND SOCIETY: THE ROMAN CATHOLIC SOCIAL
TEACHING BETWEEN MULTICULTURALITY AND ECUMENISM

Don Ezio Molinari

1. Brief overview on the Italian situation and the structures of the Catholic
Church

The social ethics of the Catholic Church embraces a very wide range of topics,
among them the guiding themes of all our encounters: the integration of minorities
and multiculturalism. Here's a very brief overview on the Catholic perspective,
knowing that these are challenges that in Italy, but maybe not only there, are
closely tied to migration.
The Catholic world has paid attention to modern migration and to all the
problems and challenges related with, first through individuals or individual local
churches, and later as the Catholic Church as a whole.
The modern migratory phenomenon starts at the end of the nineteenth
century and is still in progress. Italy was among the main protagonists of this flow:
in a century -1876-1976 - the expatriation of 28,000,000 Italians was recorded.
Today, as a result of these migrations, it is estimated that there are about
60,000,000 of Italian descendants (a higher number than those Italians living in the
Country). Italian immigration is directed everywhere in the world, from France to
Germany and England, from Belgium to Switzerland, from North to South America,
and to Australia. The growth of small or large Italian community raised
immediately several problems of integration of these minorities.
After the Second World War, Italy experienced a similar phenomenon, albeit
on a smaller scale, generated by an internal immigration movement. First from the
North East to North West and then from South to North Italy; this internal
migration has involved not less than 5 million Italians (often referred to with
contempt 'southerners', ‗terroni‘), emphasizing again in these case not small issues of
mutual acceptance between the incoming and the resident population.
From the mid-70s the balance of flows between those who left and those who
returned approached the zero, and then in that decade is placed the end of the great
Italian emigration, which nevertheless still continues today both abroad and inside
the Country even if with figures far less conspicuous. Vice-versa since the early 80's
started a migration towards Italy, which became significant in the following decade.
In January 2013 in Italy there were approximately 4,800,000 foreigners, 7.4% of the
population, and, among them, 30% were from EU.
This brief reference to Italy is not only to introduce the country in which we
are guests in these days under this aspect, but also to remember the Papal
Magisterium. Nowadays the theme of migration / integration / multiculturalism has
a universal significance, while for a long time mirrored very closely this particular
Italian situation, however the nearest and best known territory by the Apostolic See.
Among the people most sensitive to the problems of integration of migrants it
can remember, for example, Francesca Cabrini (1850-1917), an Italian religious in
the U.S., and Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, Bishop of Piacenza (1839-1905). Both
founded religious congregations dedicated to migrants now spread throughout the

24
world. Bishop Scalabrini was one of the most trusted assistant of Pope Leo XIII in
social and labor issues. Pope Pius XII signed the first major document on the
subject, which was then taken up and deepened by the Second Vatican Council and
the subsequent Magisterium up to the present one by Pope Francis.
To face the phenomenon of migration and the need to create the best
conditions for the integration, special institutions were created within the Catholic
Church.
For example, among the organisms of the Holy See, there is the Pontifical
Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, while at the level of
the Italian Catholic Church, inside the Bishops' Conference, there are the
Foundation ‗Migrantes‘ and the ‗Caritas Italiana‘, widely spread on the territory.
There are also many other organizations and movements linked to the Italian
Catholic Church dealing with multiculturalism, for example, the Community of
Sant'Egidio.

2. Catholic Church, poverty and social inclusion

To observe briefly how the Catholic Magisterium considers all these issues in
its main lines, you can give a very quick look at one of the last documents of Pope
Francis, the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (2013), a kind of manifesto of
his pontificate. In the 4th chapter, entitled The social dimension of evangelization, is
interesting the 2nd part that examines The social inclusion of the poor in society.
The starting point is the mystery of the Incarnation, which leads to the
reversal of perspectives, and to the centrality in the Church of those who live on the
margins of the society: Our faith in Christ, who became poor, and was always close
to the poor and the outcast, is the basis of our concern for the integral development
of society‘s most neglected members (186).
In the Gospel it is clear the Jesus' preferential option for the poor, which He
places at the centre of the heart of God, and in whom He freely chooses to identify
Himself with, so the option for the poor by believers is a theological need first of all,
and is implicit in our Christian faith in a God who became poor for us, so as to
enrich us with his poverty (…) [The poor] have much to teach us. Not only do they
share in the sensus fidei, but in their difficulties they know the suffering Christ. We
need to let ourselves be evangelized by them. The new evangelization is an
invitation to acknowledge the saving power at work in their lives and to put them at
the centre of the Church‘s pilgrim way (198).
The method is directly founded on the behavior of God described in the
Sacred Scripture: 'listen' to the cry of the individual as to that of entire peoples, and
'rescue' in sight of the justice. These actions are essential in order to qualify the act
of the believers. The possible lack of solidarity affect the faith of the subject,
shouting against him before God: each individual Christian and every community is
called to be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and
for enabling them to be fully a part of society. This demands that we be docile and
attentive to the cry of the poor and to come to their aid (187).
This solidarity is inscribed immediately in terms of the universal destination
of goods and the social function of property: the word ―solidarity‖ (…) refers to
something more than a few sporadic acts of generosity. It presumes the creation of a
new mindset which thinks in terms of community and the priority of the life of all
over the appropriation of goods by a few. Solidarity is a spontaneous reaction by

25
those who recognize that the social function of property and the universal
destination of goods are realities which come before private property. The private
ownership of goods is justified by the need to protect and increase them, so that they
can better serve the common good; for this reason, solidarity must be lived as the
decision to restore to the poor what belongs to them. These convictions and habits of
solidarity, when they are put into practice, open the way to other structural
transformations and make them possible (…). We must never forget that the planet
belongs to all mankind and is meant for all mankind; the mere fact that some people
are born in places with fewer resources or less development does not justify the fact
that they are living with less dignity (188-190).
The goal is a lot more than just the food or adequate means of livelihood: we
are not simply talking about ensuring nourishment or a ―dignified sustenance‖ for
all people, but also their ―general temporal welfare and prosperity‖. This means
education, access to health care, and above all employment, for it is through free,
creative, participatory and mutually supportive labour that human beings express
and enhance the dignity of their lives. A just wage enables them to have adequate
access to all the other goods which are destined for our common use (192).
The style can only be that of mercy that Jesus testifies in the Gospel, above
all an attentiveness which considers the other ‗in a certain sense as one with
ourselves‘ (…) Only on the basis of this real and sincere closeness can we properly
accompany the poor on their path of liberation. Only this will ensure that ―in every
Christian community the poor feel at home. Would not this approach be the greatest
and most effective presentation of the good news of the kingdom? (199). With the
awareness that for a believer the concern for the orthopraxy can never be lower of
that for the orthodoxy (194).
Finally, the involvement must reach every single believer and the whole
church, while the goal is the full integration through new cultural synthesis: no one
must say that they cannot be close to the poor because their own lifestyle demands
more attention to other areas. This is an excuse commonly heard in academic,
business or professional, and even ecclesial circles (201). It is essential to draw near
to new forms of poverty and vulnerability, in which we are called to recognize the
suffering Christ, even if this appears to bring us no tangible and immediate benefits.
I think of the homeless, the addicted, refugees, indigenous peoples, the elderly who
are increasingly isolated and abandoned, and many others. Migrants present a
particular challenge for me, since I am the pastor of a Church without frontiers, a
Church which considers herself mother to all. For this reason, I exhort all countries
to a generous openness which, rather than fearing the loss of local identity, will
prove capable of creating new forms of cultural synthesis. How beautiful are those
cities which overcome paralysing mistrust, integrate those who are different and
make this very integration a new factor of development! (210)

3. For a multicultural Europe: political choices and ecumenism

This is a very quick summary of the Catholic current perspective on the

theme migration/integration/multiculturalism starting from the most neglected, but
during these days the perspective will be increased, for a synthesis that should take
into account our various European backgrounds and our different Christian identity.
Such widening of horizons, however, should not take for granted that Europe and
Christianity in itself are the best advocates of integration and multiculturalism,

26
because they do not always have been, and in the absence of careful verification
might not be neither today. Not always, in fact, the ideas of Europe developed by the
various forms of Christianity, occurred in history and in different places, have been
able to integrate the wealth of differences; rather they have sometimes been a source
of conflicts and mutual exclusions.
So, for example, was at the dawn: the birth of what many consider as the first
root of Europe, the foundation of Charlemagne Empire, marked at the same time the
first irreversible step towards the process of separation between the East and the
West. The imperial coronation of Charles, with its theological and political
significance, and the subsequent violent anti-Byzantine controversy became
important factors in the growing climate of contrasts that a few centuries later
would have led to a still unresolved separation. Of course, the reasons for the split
were not only or even primarily those, but in fact the Europe of Charlemagne was an
'exclusive' Europe against the East. On the other hand the East began to dis-
integrate itself until to feel not at home anymore in the West, and vice versa. Since
then, the border between East and West began to be the boundary between two
worlds and two churches increasingly unable to understand each other. In the short
term of a few centuries, the two churches were forced to become aware of their
separation, while the boundary between the two worlds, in fact, still exists today.
So it was also in the sixteenth century, when the processes of both the
Reformations, Protestant and Catholic, were trigged off from the serious
shortcomings of the late medieval church, with the intention to renew the Church
and the European society of that time. They were actually not able to move towards
integration, and eventually break and almost crumble religiously Europe into
several parts, which sometimes excommunicated each other, and tore each other to
pieces, into a terrible series of wars, not surprisingly called 'of religion'.
Today, the idea of Europe is reborn from the ashes of another war, the Second
World War, and it finally seems open to intra, to the cohabitation and integration of
all citizens in their manifold differences, but it doesn‘t seem to be equally disposed to
extra, towards all those people that would enter from outside.
The prison camps of that terrible war were also the places where many
prisoners of different nationalities and confessions could meet, help and esteem each
other deeply. In many cases that friendship, lived in so a terrible condition, was the
starting point for a strong opening to the unity of the Churches of Europe. They
were, among other things, in the same years ‗cross-fertilized‘ with extremely
significant witnesses, such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Maximilian Kolbe, Marija
Skobcova, Angelo Roncalli, or the members of the White Rose, just to name a few.
However those same Churches are still incapable to find among them, the ways of
the full integration on the religious and theological issues.
The question on the ability of inclusiveness and multiculturalism of today‘s
Europe is therefore still open, such as the ecumenical capacity of the today‘s
churches, and it puts even more emphasis on the responsibility of European citizens
and believers in Christ in front of their authentic identity. In this context, the
commitment to seek ways for the integration of minorities seems to be not only an
indispensable social assignments directly linked to the most neglected, but also an
unavoidable obligation of the European Christians. They, indeed, only in this way
can try to fully redeem a continental past (and partly a present that continues to
this day) lived under the sign of excommunication and exclusion.

27
 CHAPTER TWO

SOCIAL AND CHARITABLE WORK OF THE BULGARIAN AND

ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCHES

1. THE SOCIAL AND CHARITY WORK OF THE BULGARIAN ORTHODOX

CHURCH

Kostadin Nushev

The traditional presence and the efforts of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church
are of fundamental importance to the public situation in Bulgaria and the
maintenance of moral values and ethics. The Constitution and national law consider
precisely Eastern Orthodox Christianity the leading religion that has a special place
among other religious communities in the country. The Constitution of the Republic
of Bulgaria (Article 13(3)) proclaims Eastern Orthodoxy the traditional national
denomination in observance of the constitutional principle of separation of the
religious institution of the Church from the State. The primary legislation
recognises the role of Orthodox Christianity as the traditional national
denomination while the dedicated Denominations Act (Article 10) specifies the role
and the place of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church as this traditional denomination‘s
religious institution. Thus, according to the constitutional principles and the legal
norms of Bulgarian law, as a religious institution the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is
separate from the state. At the same time, however, the Christian Orthodox
tradition is deeply bound with the national, political and legal traditions in
Bulgaria.
In the spirit of the church and the national traditions, as an autonomous
institution the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is independent of the state, but it has an
important social and cultural significance for the Bulgarian people. These
traditional provisions of constitutional law and democratic legislation in regard to
the social functions of the Church are still acquiring their new and contemporary
European content as since the end of the totalitarian communist regime the Church
has continued to recover its due place in society and to reinforce its fundamental
spiritual, pastoral and social mission for the Bulgarian people.
While rebuilding its social ministry, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church
simultaneously takes into account its inherited tradition but also the new
contemporary public realities and challenges. The majority of Bulgarian citizens
belong to Orthodox Christianity, so the Church has a key role for the protection and
revival of Christian spiritual values in society, as well as for the maintenance of
public morality. Based on the statistical data of the last census, about 85% of the
population identify themselves as belonging to the Eastern Orthodox faith.
According to the latest opinion polls, Bulgaria is undergoing a severe
spiritual, social and economic crisis affecting a large part of the population. Social
stratification and poverty are increasing and the unemployment rate continues to
remain high and to spread among a growing number of young people. There are

28
many destitute elderly and lonely people and the social and economic status even of
working people is dismal. Emigration is increasingly common among young and
working-age Bulgarians and it entails serious social and demographic problems.
In this situation of deep social and moral crisis many people in Bulgaria and
abroad raise the issue of what the Bulgarian Orthodox Church could do and what its
contribution could be towards social cohesion, the prevention of exclusion and
marginalisation of the poorest groups of the population and towards supporting the
revival of the spiritual values of compassion and humanity in society.
The Orthodox Church has its own deep Christian tradition of charity and
social commitment to the needy and the suffering in society. This Christian tradition
of humanity and compassion is based on the evangelical spirituality of the New
Testament and the established patterns of solidarity, humanity and brotherly care
for the poor, sick, homeless, orphaned and dispossessed of the Church. This
Christian Orthodox ethical and social tradition advances fundamental moral norms
and universal values such as humanity, justice, solidarity, mercy, compassion and
protection of the human dignity and personal freedom of each individual as a citizen
and member of society.
Since the beginning of the political changes in the country in the 1990s, the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church has been gradually regaining its due place in society
and systematically recovering its social role and function. In the past few years,
after Bulgaria‘s accession to the European Union, there has been some clear
activation of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church with regard to certain problems of
social significance, as well as some sensitive moral issues of public life. This
tendency of awakening is connected with the rediscovery of the social responsibility
of the Church and initiating the preparation of the relevant official statements and
positions of the Church on issues of human rights, the family and social problems
from the perspective of the Church community and public institutions.
The decisions taken at the Church Council of the Bulgarian Patriarchate in
2008 envisage concrete actions to create church structures for social work and
expand the scope of Christian charity and charitable and compassionate actions at
different levels within the Church. According to the new statute of the BOC,
eparchies and monasteries can run their own charities, social institutions,
orphanages and homes for children and old people.
The current official documents of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church that are
relevant to the practice, organisation and performance of Christian social and
charitable work are as follows:
1. Statute of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church – Bulgarian Patriarchate
(2008): this is the main regulatory document setting out the rights and obligations of
the clergy and the laity, the authorities and functions of the different bodies and
institutions of the Church, and the requirements for the organisation and
performance of different types of religious and social work at parish, diocese and
church level;
2. Concept of the Holy Synod on religious education (2008): this official
document defines the current principles governing the Church‘s approach to society,
government institutions and public organisations, its position on fundamental
human rights and parental and family rights and responsibilities in the upbringing
and education of children, and its commitments for cooperation with public and
educational institutions in the process of spiritual and moral upbringing of
adolescents;

29
 3. Opinion of the Holy Synod on the basic principles of the Family Code: this
document defines the primary role of the family in society and its functions for the
normal spiritual, moral and social development and education of children and
adolescents;
4. Opinion of the Holy Synod on the Law on Transplantation of Organs,
Tissues and Cells (2005): this document contains fundamental Christian ethical and
bio-ethical principles and defines the official position of the Church on issues such as
access to healthcare, respect for personal dignity and the freedom of expressing the
will of medical patients, the role of the family and the risks of economic poverty and
social exclusion as social problems of key significance to both healthcare and human
medicine and to society as a whole;
5. Agreement for cooperation in the social sphere between the Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (2011): this document
outlines the framework and guidelines for cooperation between the Bulgarian
Orthodox Church and the public authorities in the field of social work. It can be
considered a basis for developing strategic guidelines and defining the most
important areas of cooperation and partnership between the public authorities of
social policy and church institutions and organisations providing charitable and
benevolent work.
The outlined corpus of current official documents of the Holy Synod of the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church is the basis for the development of the social ministry of
church organisations in Bulgaria. The documents further outline the foundations for
the unique contemporary ―social doctrine‖ of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and
can be used as a kind of manual for clerical staff in the sphere of social work.
Christian charitable and benevolent work is performed in several main areas,
of which we will only focus on the most important ones for the social ministry of the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church. These are:
1. The social and charitable work of the parish organised under the
supervision of the parish priest, with the participation of members of the parish
community: this includes mainly canteens and kitchens for the poor, various
charities and charitable events, forms of social assistance and advocacy for poor and
needy parishioners or for people placed in different social institutions;
2. Social work and initiatives of the Church to support children and young
people at risk: working with orphaned children, street children and young people
deprived of parental care, initiatives to support foster care, developing forms of
assistance and cooperation between parishes and other institutions of the Church
and social homes for children, foster care for children deprived of parental care by
families within the parish community;
3. Church shelters, orphanages and institutionalised care for children and
poor people in new church institutions for protection and social support;
4. Programmes for spiritual, pastoral and social work with young addicts and
their families;
5. Pastoral and social ministry for prisoners and their families;
6. Actions in support of people with disabilities and people with special needs
(visual and hearing impairments, permanent physical and mental disabilities) and
cooperation of the Church with medical, educational and other establishments and
organisations for implementation of joint projects and programmes in this area;
7. Organisation of charitable events and campaigns in support of people and
communities having suffered violence, refugees, victims of human trafficking and

30
other forms of ill treatment.
Taking into consideration the types of church social work referred to above,
the efforts of Orthodox priests, volunteers and parish communities, as well as those
of monastic fraternities and diocesan institutions, are aimed at supporting the most
vulnerable members of society and those most at risk – the homeless and starved;
children living in the street or deprived of parental care, who can therefore easily
fall prey to various forms of trafficking, exploitation and abuse of their freedom and
human dignity; single mothers; unemployed and chronically ill people; the elderly
and lonely, as well as those without social protection and medical assistance. These
categories of underprivileged members of society were identified as a priority and
major concern for the social care and support on the part of the Church in many of
the responses to the questionnaires fed back by priests, theologians, social workers
and psychologists.
The social efforts of the Church aimed at supporting such marginalised and
vulnerable groups bring great spiritual benefit to both their recipients and to the
entire society. They are truly beneficial and life-saving for the poor, the sick and the
outcast, being our youngest brothers in Christ, as long as they are an expression of
benevolent care and the mercy of Christ. Through such works the members of the
Church bear witness to the love of Christ, preach His truth and do good guided by
the Holy Spirit. For this reason, the social and charitable ministry of the Church has
always been perceived as an integral part of the common spiritual witness of the
truth of Jesus Christ and an expression of Christ‘s love and God‘s mercy for
mankind.
The chief purpose of this study is to outline the main fields of the social
activity of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the past two decades and to set out its
immediate prospects based on Christ‘s teachings for ministering to our neighbour
and the tradition of the Church. The analysis of the current social activity of various
institutions and organisations of the Church furthermore takes into account the
present political, cultural and spiritual situation in Bulgaria, its neighbouring
countries and Orthodox churches, as well as the broader perspective of the common
and single European social space.
The common cultural and social space of the European Union is rooted in the
fundamental Christian traditions of respect for every human being, his personal
dignity and freedom of conscience, justice and solidarity among citizens, and care for
the poor and the oppressed. These Christian traditions of active love of our
neighbour, mercy and compassion largely determine the spiritual dimensions of the
modern-day principles and concepts of solidarity and humanity in the common
European space in which the Church and the various church communities at local
level are an important factor and a partner to government institutions and public
organisations in the implementation of social policies.
The role of the Church is important precisely as a partner of government
institutions for social policy at different levels – local, regional, national and
supranational, through its participation in various policies for social protection,
social inclusion and reintegration of people from vulnerable groups. The active
involvement of church communities and their charitable institutions can support
national bodies and state agencies in the field of social policy aimed at ensuring
stability, partnership and solidarity, while preserving the security and social rights
of citizens and the stability of nation states. These values and goals of the public
policy in the field of social welfare can be effectively achieved only through the

31
protection and recognition of the dignity of each individual, respect for children‘s
rights, protection for the stability of the family as an institution and pursuit of
greater justice and supremacy of the law. In addition to which, tolerance and mutual
understanding, non-discrimination, solidarity and cooperation in the name of human
values are the guiding principles of the social policy in the European social space
today.
In addition to its pastoral and social ministry for prisoners, the Church‘s
commitment to the sick and the military need also be mentioned. In recent years
there have been discussions about posting church officers (chaplains and priests) not
just in prisons, but also in hospitals and healthcare establishments in which there
are operational chapels, as well as in the army. The talks with the relevant public
institutions and competent authorities have not yet been brought to an end, so at the
moment the only permanently established post and form of ministry is that of prison
chaplains.
An important initiative of the social ministry of the Church in recent years
has been the project for construction of homes for sick and stateless people pioneered
by the diocesan authority and the local authorities in Veliko Tarnovo. This
undertaking is exemplary of the joint social action of church institutions at local
level, as is the Metropolitan of Veliko Tarnovo, and the municipal authorities and
social welfare services in the city.
Such public and church initiatives for social care and charity in support of
homeless, sick and abandoned children, elderly and lonely people, and other needy
Bulgarians or foreigners seeking asylum in Bulgaria are launched in many places at
local level and inspire the creation of various church initiatives and the initiation of
social programmes by parish or diocesan centres, monasteries or different other
bodies and authorities of the Church.
In addition to the catechistic, spiritual and educational work of the parish
centres in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Blagoevgrad, Ruse and Burgas, Christian
charitable and benevolent work, such as raising funds for the treatment of sick
children, building shelters and orphanages and canteens and kitchens for the poor,
as well as support for other people in need from the respective parish or clerical
district, is carried out in other Bulgarian cities.
The most important social and charitable activities organised by Orthodox
priests and their parishes consist of supporting poor families and destitute, sick and
needy people, caring for orphans, and pastoral work with children and young people
at risk who are reside in social homes, shelters and other similar institutions and
centres. The social work done by Orthodox priests and their parishes nowadays
includes first and foremost pastoral, social and charitable ministry for children
deprived of parental care, counselling for young people with deviant behaviour, and
pastoral care for prisoners, detained juvenile delinquents and sick people.
One type of church social activity that many Orthodox priests today find of
the utmost importance and priority is caring for orphaned children, children from
poor families, and homeless and neglected children and adolescents. This category of
needy and disadvantaged people has been identified by church officers and social
workers alike as one of the most vulnerable and underprivileged social groups.
Therefore, it is precisely the care for children and young people at risk and the
support for orphaned children and growing adolescents deprived of parental care in
the family that is considered a top priority for the social and charitable work of the
Church today.

32
 The main activities of church organisations in this area are support services
for the families of children and adolescents at risk provided by parish communities,
development of programmes for social integration and inclusion in church life
through various religious activities, canteens and kitchens for the poor in parish and
monastic centres (in the towns of Dobrich and Berkovitsa), charities in support of
sick children and people in need, and cooperation with voluntary associations.
Caring for the sick, the lonely and the disabled and giving shelter to orphans
and children from poor families has been increasingly trying to make a comeback in
the life of the Bulgarian Church in the past two decades. The most exemplary
church institution engaged in social work of this type is the shelter for poor and
homeless children and families created by Father Ivan in the St Nicholas centre in
the town of Novi Han. The shelter has offered refuge to hundreds of single mothers,
homeless families and children form social institutions and today it is the largest
church institution for social support and charitable care. The shelter is home to
dozens of children attending school, as well as old people, who work on the farm of
the shelter and take care of the meals, while many families are already being placed
in family homes outside the centre, in the village of Yakimovo, Montana province,
where they are given arable land or another opportunity for employment to sustain
themselves. Through the work of the shelter for abandoned children and homeless
families in Novi Han and the increasingly common practice of accommodating
individual families in separate family-type homes, this type of church activity has
been gradually redirected towards certain deserted villages and territories in
Northwestern Bulgaria. The practice of buying homes for families from the shelter
in Novi Han and their resettlement in rented housing in the village of Yakimovo has
shown an appropriate and functional model which the foundation of Father Ivan
from Novi Han ―St Nicholas the Wonderworker‖ is already implementing and
establishing as a new social practice. Along with this development and expansion of
the social forms of shelter provision and basic social care for homeless children and
families, there has been increased partnering with various European and Christian
charities aimed at promoting social support for the neediest and the homeless. The
German Christian Foundation ―Friends of Bulgaria‖ has been supporting similar
social causes in the village of Yakimovo and in other villages in Northwestern
Bulgaria through donations made by Christians and assistance from evangelical
church communities in Germany.
Many parishes and monastic centres organise children‘s summer camps and
schools of religious education, iconography, church music and other fine arts for
children from poor families. Different parish centres (in the cities of Sofia, Plovdiv,
Varna etc.) and diocesan monasteries (such as the Hadjidimovo Monastery in the
Diocese of Nevrokop) practise new pastoral methods of treatment of substance
addiction in young people through spiritual inclusion in the practices of liturgical
prayer life of the parish or in the daily discipline of the monastic community. Their
integration into the existing order and mode of life, which includes work, care for the
sick and the poor, reception of pilgrims and hospitality, helps them regain many of
their working habits.
Much valuable experience has also been gained by the associates of the
Pokrov Foundation under projects for social work with orphanages taking place in
the parish centre of the Intercession of the Theotokos church in Sofia, or through
voluntary initiatives and support for orphanages and other social institutions in
different places in the country, such as for example in the town of Ugarchin. These

33
projects involve the joint work of priests, theologians, educators, social workers and
psychologists who develop successful models of integrating the efforts and expertise
of many different specialists.
Many Orthodox parishes in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas and diocesan
monasteries in the country provide support to homeless or orphaned young people by
offering them shelter or work on their premises. The purpose of church institutions
engaging and retaining such young people without parents or families is to enable
them to work and grow with a sense of being worthwhile individuals and valuable
members of society.
In recent years many Orthodox Christians have joined different Christian
voluntary initiatives in support of children residing in social homes and specialised
institutions in Sofia and in the neighbouring villages and towns. Such programmes
are developed by the parish centre of the Intercession of the Theotokos church in
Sofia, the parish of St Andrew the Protoclete church, as well as by organisations of
Orthodox youths and of students from the Faculty of Theology at Sofia University.
The recipients of these church voluntary deeds and Christian charitable work are
children at the social home in the village of Doganovo and the shelter of Father Ivan
in Novi Han, the youngsters at the St Constantine centre in Sofia and young people
at other similar institutions.
Orthodox priests also administer pastoral services in prisons with the help of
Christian volunteers from their parishes and provide spiritual support to prisoners
but also to the families and children of people serving sentences in different
penitentiaries. Separate metropolitans that accommodate such establishments
cooperate with the administration of the respective institution and designate a
parish priest to take care of the pastoral support and social ministry for prisoners
and their families. This model has been established and has delivered good results
in many eparchies including Sofia, Vratsa, Stara Zagora, Pleven etc. Orthodox
priests further work with minor and juvenile delinquents held in detention centres.
Another aspect of the social ministry of the Church and human rights
concerns the current positions and activities of the Church with regard to
ministering to prisoners and providing spiritual support to their families. The issue
was enacted by the competent government authorities in 1998 and has been
implemented for over 15 years through the presence of prison priests (chaplains) in
all detention centres (in Sofia, Pazardzhik, Stara Zagora and Pleven) and in juvenile
correctional facilities (in the town of Boychinovtsi).

34
 2. THE SOCIAL AND CHARITY WORK OF THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX
CHURCH

Spătărelu-Iancu Paula Smaranda

―Social assistance, through specific measures and actions, should develop the
individual, group or collective capacity to meet social needs, improve quality of life
and promote the cohesion principles and social inclusion.‖ – Art. 2, Para. 3 of Act
292/2011: Social Assistance Act.
The social assistance provided by the Church is social assistance with a
spiritual and religious dimension. On the basis of the teachings of Christianity and
Christian compassion and charity, the Church develops and perfects services to
support lay people, guided not only by the economic and social parameters of the
times, but also by the expectations of the lay people who actively participate both in
the provision of the services and the use of those services.‖1
According to the Rules for the Organisation and Functioning of the Social
Assistance System, in the Romanian Orthodox Church the social assistance (welfare)
system is based on the Church‘s shepherding and missionary service and is of social
and charitable nature. Social welfare work is done in accordance with the
government regulations concerning the organisation and functioning of the
Romanian Orthodox Church and in compliance with the applicable social service
providers‘ legislation.
The Romanian Orthodox Church, via its central and local branches
(patriarchate, diocese, parishes, monasteries), and via non-government
organisations operating with the approval of the competent church authorities,
provides social services certified in accordance with the applicable legislation2 to all
disadvantaged populations.
Work done in the field of social welfare is funded by the social service
providers‘ own resources, state and local budget subsidies, donations and
sponsorships received under the conditions and order provided for by law, public
collections, voluntary contributions and from income from any source not in violation
of applicable law or the regulations of the ROC Statute.3
The structures (administration) of the Romanian Orthodox Church in
Romania and abroad may request financial aid from the Romanian Patriarchate, as
well as assistance from the state and local budgets in support of its social welfare
work. Furthermore, in support of its social and charity work, the Romanian
Orthodox Church may, through its local administration, engage in economic
activity.4
The work done by the branches of the Romanian Orthodox Church, in their
capacity as social service providers, is recognised and supported by the state, which

1 Teza doctorat drd. Oprea Ionut Mihai - ASISTENŢA SOCIALĂ COMUNITARĂ. ROLUL BISERICII
ÎN DEZVOLTAREA SERVICIILOR DE ASISTENŢĂ SOCIALĂ
2 Art 137, alin 2 din Statutul pentru Organizarea si Functionarea Bisericii Ortodoxe Romane (Statut BOR).
3 Art 191, alin 1 din Statutul pentru Organizarea si Functionarea Bisericii Ortodoxe Romane (Statut

BOR).
4 Art 166 din Statutul pentru Organizarea si Functionarea Bisericii Ortodoxe Romane (Statut BOR).

35
allows for forming partnerships and signing agreements sanctioned by law.5
The Romanian state, via its State Secretariat, maintains a good relationship
with all religious denominations recognised in Romania, and pursuant to Acts Nos.
125/18.03.2002 and 489/2006 on the freedom of religion and the general status of
denominations, and if the state budget permits, financial assistance may be granted
to individual religious communities to support social welfare services and activities
organised by religious organisations in hospitals, orphanages and retirement homes
as well as other forms of social assistance provided on a national or international
level by religious organisations in Romania.
Both the Constitution of Romania, which casts religions as partners of the
state in social welfare matters, and the Statute of the Romanian Orthodox Church
allow the Church, under direct supervision from the church boards, to set up centres
which offer special, educational, cultural and missionary services to young people,
organised according to the needs of each individual parish.
Art.3 of the Rules for the Organisation and Functioning of the Social
Assistance System of the Romanian Orthodox Church defines the objectives of the
Romanian Orthodox Church‘s network for social assistance as follows:

1. Fulfilling the Church‘s mission towards people in need and in

accordance with the Christian faith;
2. Providing primary [and] specialised social services as well as social
and health care in compliance with the applicable laws and
regulations;
3. Creating supporting networks on the municipal level for individuals
and populations in need;
4. Incorporating and managing its own organisations for providing
social assistance and social and health care, or operating in
partnerships with public and/or private organisations;
5. Conducting social surveys and studies concerning various social
problems and phenomena;
6. Active participation in the making and enforcement of social
policies, strategies and action plans on the national, regional and
local levels;
7. Cooperation and building partnerships with decentralised public
offices of ministries, organisations within the central and local
public administration and other government or private institutions
active in the field;
8. Informing the public opinion on social welfare matters and raising
societal awareness by organizing conferences, seminars, round
tables, discussions, etc.; making publications (magazines,
brochures, leaflets), audio-visual materials, materials in electronic
format; organising advertising campaigns to get society involved in
solving social problems.

Considering the objectives set by the Church in the field of social assistance,

5Art 191, alin 2 din Statutul pentru Organizarea si Functionarea Bisericii Ortodoxe Romane (Statut
BOR).

36
the Romanian Orthodox Church believes that the specific measures and actions to be
undertaken should be realised in such a way that:

а) Social services provided by the Church would form a package of related

measures supplementing the national social welfare system;
b) Social services would be evaluated periodically in terms of their efficiency
and effectiveness to ensure their continuous adjustment to the beneficiaries‘ actual
needs;
d) The services offered would prevent and limit any form of dependence on
the support provided by the Church.

The Romanian Orthodox Church‘s system for social assistance is an

integrated system which functions within the Church‘s administration structure or
within the social and charity organisations patronised by it.6

The Romanian Orthodox Church‘s social assistance system is professionally

organised within the Church‘s administration under the following structure:
1. Social assistance on the parish level;
2. Social assistance on the diocese level, where a Social Assistance
Department is set up, a part of the diocese‘s missionary sector;7
3. Social assistance on the Romanian Patriarchate level, within the ―Church
and Society‖ sector wherein the Romanian Patriarchate Social Assistance
Department operates.

The Romanian Patriarchate Social Assistance Department has the following

authority:
1. To develop the Romanian Orthodox Church‘s social welfare strategy and
action plans under the guidance of the Holy Synod;
2. To coordinate and manage the enforcement of the Romanian Orthodox
Church‘s social welfare strategy under the guidance of the Holy Synod;
3. To develop various national programmes in the social field and coordinate
their implementation, identifying current issues that lead to moral
degradation, marginalisation and social exclusion for certain lay people;
4. To identify sources of funding to support Church's social assistance
programmes;
5. To organise regular meetings with social advisors to parishes and social
assistance inspectors;
6. To organise activities and projects aimed at informing the public opinion in
order to educate and raise awareness in the community about various aspects
of social welfare matters (organizing conferences, seminars, discussions,
advertising campaigns, making publications);
7. To organise initiatives for exchange of experience between the eparchies, as
well as with other organisations from sister Orthodox churches or other

6Art 137, alin 1 din Statutul pentru Organizarea si Functionarea Bisericii Ortodoxe Romane (Statut BOR).
7La data aprobarii Regulamentului, aceasta a fost denumirea Sectorului. In prezent, potrivit Statutului
pentru organizarea și funcționarea B.O.R., art. 106, denumirea este Sectorul Social-Filantropic și
Misionar.

37
 Christian denominations;
8. To prepare an annual report on the social welfare work done by the
Romanian Patriarchate based on the information submitted by the eparchies,
to investigate and propose measures for its improvement.

On the diocesan level, social assistance work is organised and conducted

through the Social Assistance Department, which is a part of the diocese‘s
missionary sector, headed by a social advisor to the diocese. The Social Assistance
Department is headed by a diocesan social assistance inspector, who reports to the
social advisor. The social inspector is a holder of an academic degree in the field of
social assistance, i.e. he or she is a specialist in the field.
On the parish level, social assistance work is conducted through the Social
Assistance Department, under the direct supervision of the parish priest. The
parish‘s Social Assistance Department coordinator is appointed by the members of
the Department (social assistants with academic degrees in the field, hired via a
recruitment competition) and the social advisor, with the priest‘s approval.
There are approximately 20 such social assistance departments in Romania
on the diocesan and parish levels which support the Romanian Orthodox Church‘s
social and charity endeavours and the people who need its help.
Here we will present a few examples for good social welfare practices of
diocesan centres, with the caveat that those diocesan centres usually do their social
work in partnerships with non-government organisations, formed with the Church‘s
blessing.

Metropolitans of Muntenia and Dobrogea

The Archdiocese of Bucharest (the Social Missionary Centre of the

Archdiocese of Bucharest was founded in 1997) comprises the following social
institutions:8

1. Social Centre at the Christiana Monastery, social centre for the elderly;
2. ―Pasărea Monastery‖ retirement home, founded in 1991, running mainly on
volunteer help;
3. ―St. Barnabas‖ community kitchen;
4. Information centre;
5. ―St. Nectarios‖ Centre for Palliative Care;
6. ―St. Sofia‖ children‘s day centre;
7. Social and Charity Residential Centre founded in the ―Precupeţii Vechi‖
parish in 2005 as a centre for the elderly;
8. ―St. Dorotheus‖ Medical and Social Centre, Turnu Monastery, Prahova
region, established in January 2010, equipped with a working dental office;9
9. ―Vasiliada‖ Medical and Pharmaceutical Church Centre, incorporated in 1999
with the help of the College of Pharmacists of Bucharest, equipped with a
doctor's office and a chemist‘s providing free health services for low-income
individuals;

8http://www.arhiepiscopiabucurestilor.ro/index.php/2011-06-30-23-44-4/2013-02-24-13-58-34/asezaminte-sociale
9Asistenta social – filantropica si medicala organizata de BOR in trecut si astazi, Editura Basilica a
Patriarhiei Romane, Bucuresti 2012.

38
 In 2013 the Archdiocese of Bucharest supported people in need and priests of
poor parishes by providing extra assistance in the amount of RON 344,142 via the
―Good Shepherd‖ Fund.10

In the Archdiocese of Tomis social work is focused on:

1. Consulting and support for parishes, which in turn initiate and champion
welfare and charity projects;
2. Activities and projects offering support and assistance for children aged
between 7 and 18 from families in temporary risk state;
3. Support for the elderly by providing hot meals;
4. Prevention campaigns and projects focused on various problems in society –
human trafficking, violence, drug use, alcohol, and smoking.

There is an Information and Consulting Centre in the Archdiocese of Tomis,

providing the following social services, legally certified: providing information, social
consulting, psychological consulting, food preparation and service, etc.

In the Archdiocese of Târgovişte11, in 2012 the local Social and Charity

Department successfully implemented social programmes and projects worth RON
97,850, not including many activities and projects realised on the parish level.

On the diocese level, 7,150 children, 3,849 elderly people, 1,488 people with
disabilities, 91 victims of domestic violence, 231 prisoners, 4 seropositive individuals
and 33 alcohol or drug addicts have benefited from the in-kind and financial
assistance provided through the Church.

The more important programmes are listed below:

1. ―Good Shepherd‖ Parish Support Programme for funding social, charitable,

missionary or cultural and educational projects;
2. ―Food of Joy‖ Social Programme, executed in collaboration with the support
from social institutions (both directly and through the parish centres),
ensuring spiritual or social support for better quality of life for the
beneficiaries from the social centres by providing hot meals;
3. ―Anti-drug‖ Campaign, conducted in partnership with the ―Anti-drug‖
Assessment, Prevention and Consulting Centre in Dâmboviţa or other non-
government organisations in cooperation with the Archdiocese. 50 volunteers
from the youth committees of the Târgovişte Municipality parishes
participate in the activities organised under the campaign;
4. ―Nonviolence‖ Campaigns – the ―Violence Prevention is Our Priority‖
campaign ran in 2003 and was executed in partnership with the Dâmboviţa
region Police Department and the Târgovişte Crime Prevention Centre.
Imparting specific information to parents and children in order to prevent
violence was a core element of the campaign;

10 http://www.arhiepiscopiabucurestilor.ro/index.php/social-filantropic/2306-raport-anual-2013-sectorul-
social-filantropic-si-misionar-al-arhiepiscopiei-bucurestilor
11 www.arhiepiscopiatargovistei.ro

39
 5. Projects supporting disadvantaged children that take place during the Easter
holidays, on June 1st or at Christmas and involve gifts of clothes, food
packages, sporting or educational items.
6. A centre called ―St. Stephen‖ was established in the Archdiocese of
Târgovişte; its beneficiaries are young women over the age of 18 who have
left the government social protection system (state institutions) and facing
various social problems.

Establishments operating in the Archdiocese of Lower Danube:

1. ―SS Cosmas and Damian‖ Medical Centre, Galaţi has been providing free-of-
charge health services to people in need from the Municipality of Galaţi since
2004, through its general medicine office, dental office, function testing and
medical laboratory;
2. Parish medical offices: ―The Intercession of the Theotokos‖ office, operating in
the ―Assumption of Mary‖ parish, Brăila, since 2000; ―SS Constantine and
Helena‖ office, opened in 2004 in the ―SS Constantine and Helena‖ parish,
Ireasca; ―St. Nicholas‖ office established in Brăila in 2000;
3. ―Hope for the Elderly‖ Multifunctional Centre for Social Services, Galaţi,
founded in 2008 as a part of the implementation of a Phare project in
partnership with the Galaţi Municipal Council;
4. ―St. Spyridon‖ children‘s day centre, founded as a part of the implementation
of a Phare project in partnership with the Galaţi Municipal Council.

Metropolitan of Moldavia and Bukovina

In the Archdiocese of Iaşi12, social and health services provided in the 2011–
2012 period involved:

1. Establishing 47 charity and medical centres (regions of Iaşi, Botoşani and

Neamţ) – 21 of which have been certified by the Ministry of Labour and
Social Protection as providers of 32 different social services;
2. The body of work of the social assistance departments, day centres and
residential centres for children and the elderly, the community kitchens at
eparchies, parishes or monasteries;
3. ―Providence‖ Hospital with an outpatient department in Iaşi and 5 medical
centres in the region, which is the only organisation of this type maintained
by the Romanian Orthodox Church. The hospital has a capacity of 56 beds, an
operating room, a surgical ward, an intensive care unit and a medical
laboratory. The hospital was founded in 1998;
4. Charity work done by the parishes and monasteries in the Archdiocese of
Iaşi. The Agapia and Văratec Monasteries have operational medical offices;

In the Archdiocese of Suceava, with the support of the Bogdana Monastery

and in partnership with the local administration and the Regional Council, the
―St. Leontius‖ children‘s centre was incorporated. It services over 100 abandoned

12 www.mmb.ro.

40
 children. Another important institution is the ―St. John the New‖ retirement
home, built between 1992 and 1995, with 100 rooms, a medical office, a bakery
and a farm.
5. In the Archdiocese of Roman and Bacău there is the ―St. Basil the Great‖
Physical Therapy Centre which offers free-of-charge physical therapy and
speech training services to over 80 children with disabilities aged between 4
and 16.

Metropolitan of Ardeal

In the Archdiocese of Sibiu, in addition to the social services provided

through the Social Assistance Department, the TABOR project is in force. It is a
project providing consulting and assistance to people with hearing impairment.
The Centre for Providing Home Care for Advanced Cancer Patients was
established in the Braşov parish in 2003.
―St. Elijah the Prophet‖ family-type foster home was established in 2003, in
the Archdiocese of Alba Iulia, Orthodox parish Aiud IV. It offers social and medical
home services for the elderly.

Metropolitan of Cluj, Maramureş and Sălaj

In the Archdiocese of Vadu, Feleacul and Cluj in 2011 the ―St. Nectarios‖
Centre for Palliative Care was established in Cluj-Napoca. It offers medical
assistance and moral support to cancer patients. The Centre has its own laboratory,
a medical ward with 20 beds, a day centre for elderly patients and a chapel.
In addition to that, there is an Outpatient Centre for Musculoskeletal
Recovery which provides health services to elderly people with disabilities from the
Cluj region.

Metropolitan of Banat

The ―St. Nicholas‖ establishment was founded in 2008 in the Archdiocese of

Timişoara, Checea Municipality, intended to serve the elderly.
In 2003 the Archdiocese of Arad saw the establishment of a medical office by
the name of ―St. Cosmas and Damian‖ of Arad, which offers health care services to
persons without a primary care physician, and the ―St. Martyr Panteleimon‖ of
Zâmbru outpatient centre, which services not only the residents of the town but also
people from the villages Valea Mare, Dulcele and Brusturescu.

Metropolitan of Oltenia

In the Archdiocese of Craiova specialised social services are provided by

social centres created specifically for that purpose and by the ―Vasiliada‖
Association, a non-government non-profit organisation operating under the spiritual
patronage of the Metropolitan of Oltenia.
The Archdiocese of Craiova is a certified social service provider for the
following social centres:
1. Multifunctional Social Centre for disadvantaged children from Craiova –
certified in August 2012;

41
 2. ―Anastasia‖ Day Centre for disadvantaged children from Craiova –
certified in August 2012;
3. ―St. Callinicus‖ safe house – ―Samuеl‖ retirement home, established in
February 2012;
4. ―Renaissance‖ Residential Social Centre for the elderly (retirement home)
– certified in May 2013;
5. ―Metropolitan Firmilian‖ Social Centre for the elderly – certified in June
2011;
6. Multifunctional Centre for disadvantaged children going to kindergarten
– certified in March 2013;
7. Multifunctional Children‘s Social Centre Târgu Jiu – certified in 2012;
8. Primary social services – Social Assistance Department participates in
the implementation of the Crisis Intervention Programme in partnership
with the ―Vasiliada‖ Association. The Programme offers assistance to
vulnerable populations by: consulting and support in finding employment
and housing, facilitating access to other types of social services, enrolment
in qualification courses, and other specialised services, psychological
consulting, rights and obligations information services, support and
assistance to ensure an active and independent way of life, in-kind and
financial aid in cases of emergency.

Concurrently with the social and charity work done by the structures of the
Romanian Orthodox Church, associations and foundations operating under the
patronage of the Church‘s administrative structures but being separate legal entities
also perform social welfare work, in accordance with the legislation on non-
government organisation, namely Government Ordinance No. 26 of 2000 on
associations and foundations, passed by Act 246/2005, amended by Act 305/2008 and
34/2010.
On the Romanian Patriarchate level, the operation of these non-government
organisations is approved with a resolution of the Holy Synod, and on the other
structural levels it is approved with the Diocese's blessing.
These organisations‘ incorporation documents must comply with the
regulations of the ROC Statute and the Rules for the Organisation and Functioning
of the Social Assistance System of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Their objectives
must contribute to achieving the objectives set by ROC in the field of social welfare.
The activities of these non-government organisations are monitored by the
social department of the respective diocese which grants the approval within which
they do their social welfare work.
In an environment where one of the gravest problems faced by the Church as
a social service provider is the lack of funds, as is also evident from a sociological
survey realised within the ―Analysis of the Romanian Orthodox Church‘s Social
Work‖ study (60% of responders believe that the Church does not have a sufficient
independent income to allow it to organise the social and charitable work as needed),
the incorporation of non-government organisations with the Church‘s blessing is
very appropriate, as access to some funding opportunities is only open to non-
government organisations.
Here we present some of the organisations operating under the spiritual
patronage of the Romanian Orthodox Church:

42
  ―Diaconia‖ Association in Bucharest incorporated in 1999 with the sanction of
the Romanian Patriarchate. His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of Romania, is
the honorary chairman. 13
 ―Bucuria Ajutorului‖ Foundation, founded in 2010 under the patronage of the
Archdiocese of Bucharest, at the initiative of His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch
of Romania. The Foundation has been a certified social service provider since
July 2011. Its vision is of ―a world where people know that to help means not
only to give, but above all the shared joy between giver and receiver‖.14
 ―Solidarity and Hope‖ Foundation – an organisation incorporated in 2002
under the patronage of the Archbishop of Iaşi and doing charity, cultural,
educational and civic programmes. It has subsidiaries in Botoşani, Hârlău,
Roznov, Săvineşti, Darabani, Săveni, Piatra Neamţ, Târgu Neamţ and
Paşcani.15
 ―Petru Vodă‖ Foundation, founded by the ―St. Archangels Michael and
Gabriel‖ Monastery in Petru Vodă, which offers certified social services via
two centres: ―The Intercession of the Theotokos‖ Social Centre for children
and ―St. Spyridon‖ retirement home with a 40-bed capacity, a medical office,
a dental office and a chemist‘s.
 ―Orthodox Christian Charity‖ Foundation, Sibiu, founded in 2009,
implements the social assistance of the Archdiocese of Sibiu.16
 ―Codrii Mamului – Fumureni‖ Association, an Orthodox organisation working
in the field of social welfare with the approval of the Archdiocese of Râmnicu,
focused on ensuring basic human rights protection, in particular among
disadvantaged populations; supporting professional, social and cultural
interests, especially for the citizens of the Vâlcea region; creating sustainable
development initiatives, promoting and preservation of the authentic cultural
heritage of Romanian rural areas.17
 ―Filantropia Timişoara‖ Foundation (FTF), founded in 2006 under the
patronage of the Metropolitan of Banat. This is a Christian Orthodox
foundation for charity and community development working on social,
charity, cultural, educational and civic programmes.18
 ―Filantropia Ortodoxa Alba Iulia‖ Association, working in the social service
field, incorporated under the patronage of the Archdiocese of Alba Iulia. It
was incorporated in 2001 and currently has 16 subsidiaries in the Alba and
Mureş regions. The Association offers a wide range of services: 12 home care
services for the elderly; 11 day care services for children (one day care centre
and 10 educational centres); 5 residential services for children (4 family-type
homes and 1 recovery centre for children who are victims of violence); 1 crisis
centre (providing services in cases of emergency); two residential services for
elderly people with disabilities (safe houses); two services for people with
disabilities; two community kitchens; two consulting services; 1 regional
centre for social inclusion. 19

13 www.asociatiadiaconia.ro.
14 e-mail: bucuria.ajutorului@gmail.com.
15 www.fundatia.mmb.ro.
16 www.socialma.ro/asociatii-si-fundatii/asociatia-filantropia-ortodoxa-sibiu.
17 www.codrii-mamului.ro.
18www.filantropiaortodoxa.ro.
19 www.fft.ro.

43
  The ―Christiana‖ Christian Medical Association in Cluj is one of the first
associations incorporated by the Romanian Orthodox Church, in 1991, as a
subsidiary of the ―Christiana‖ Foundation of Bucharest.20
 ―St. Sava‖ Children‘s Foundation in Buzău, founded at the initiative of the
priest Prof. Mihail Milea, PhD and with the blessing of His Grace Epifanie,
Archbishop of Buzău and Vrancea, on 12 April 1993, the feast day of St. Sava.
The organisation operates under the ―St. Sava‖ municipal cathedral.21
 ―St. Basil the Great‖ Charitable Orthodox Christian Association in Galaţi,
incorporated in 2001 under the patronage of the Archdiocese of Lower
Danube. It is primarily involved in working with projects providing social
assistance to orphaned children and children from low income families.22
 ―Bishop Melchisedec‖ Foundation – Bacău branch, founded in July 2008 by
His Grace Ioachim, Bishop of Bacău, to continue the missionary and
charitable work of the estimable Melchisedec Stefanescu, Bishop of Roman.
(1823-1892)23
 ―St. Stephen the Great‖ Association, Harja, a non-government organisation
founded in 2012 with the blessing of the Archdiocese of Roman and Bacău.
The Association‘s seat is in the village of Harja, Oituz Municipality, Bacău
region. The Association provides social, medical, educational, psychological
and spiritual services to children and families as well as elderly people in
need. It operates mostly via four social centres, two of which offer home care
and permanent residence for the elderly, and the other two are day centres
for youths: ―St. Dionysius Exiguus‖ after-school care centre and ―St. Andrew
the Apostle‖ centre for creativity, art and tradition for discovering traditional
Romanian values through crafts, folklore, folk songs and dances workshop;24
 ―Filantropia Oradea‖ Association is a non-government organisation operating
in the field of social welfare under the patronage of the Bishopric of Oradea.
The Association has been in operation since 2009 with the approval of His
Grace Sofronie, Bishop of Oradea. In 2011 the organisation expands into
Bihor, opening 6 new subsidiaries in the region. With the support of the
Bishopric of Oradea, over the span of recent years the Association has
initiated a number of actions in support of multiple sclerosis patients.25
 ―Matei Basarab‖ Social and Cultural Association, incorporated in 2002 as a
non-government organisation under the patronage of the Bishopric of
Slobozia and Călărași; 26
 ―Letca Noua‖ Association, a non-government organisation incorporated in
2006, working in the field of social welfare and operating with the blessing of
the Bishopric of Giurgiu.27
 ―Filantropia Porolissum‖ Association, created at the initiative of His Grace
Petroniu, Bishop of Salaj, in 2009. The organisation operates under the
patronage of the Bishopric of Salaj and is focused on assisting families at

20 www.christianacluj.ro.
21http://www.sfsavabz.ro/
22 www.asociatiasfvasile.ro.
23 www.fembacau.ro.
24 www.caminharja.ro.
25 www.filantropiaoradea.ro.
26 www.ascmb.ro.
27 www.asociatialetcanoua.ro.

44
 social risk. It is a certified provider of home care services for the elderly and
of information and consulting services for persons at social risk. The
Association has been providing social services via its ―St. Nicholas‖
Consulting Centre since 2010.28
 ―St. Spyridon the Elder‖ Foundation, Bucharest, which has founded a medical
and social centre offering free-of-charge services to people without health
insurance and/or people with no income.
 ―Diaconia‖ Social Mission, founded in 2001, is a non-government organisation
working in the welfare field in the Republic of Moldova under the patronage
of the Metropolitan of Bessarabia. Its main areas of work include: providing
in-kind or financial aid to people in need, organising volunteer groups to take
part in providing certain social services, supporting the work of various social
establishments. In 2011 the organisation founded the largest social
establishment in the Metropolitan of Bessarabia – the ―Mother‘s Embrace‖
maternity centre, intended to serve as a benchmark for high-quality social
services for mothers.29
 "Vasiliada‖ Association, founded in 2001 in the Archdiocese of Craiova.30
 ―Cuvântul Care Zideşte‖ Foundation, a non-profit organisation working
under the patronage of the Metropolitan of Oltenia, founded in June 2001,
with the Metropolitan of Oltenia serving as its honorary chairman. The
Foundation aims to promote cultural and spiritual Christian values, to do
charitable work in support of people in need, without discrimination, and to
provide instructive and educational services in all areas.

Its work is broken down in several programmes:

 Missionary programmes in schools, kindergartens and parishes;

 A programme focused on working with prisons in Craiova;
 A programme to support orphaned children;
 A programme aimed at promoting the values of the national church
legacy.31

 National Society of Romanian Orthodox Women, Craiova branch. The

National Society of Romanian Orthodox Women was founded in 1910 by
Princes Alexandrina Cantacuzino. Its main purpose is to protect the
Orthodox faith and the Church‘s continuity.

 Association of Romanian Orthodox Christian Students, Craiova branch. The

main purpose of the Association is ―to promote faith and Orthodox Christian
spirituality in universities and academic environments.
2. ―Antim Ivireanul‖ Association is a religious, cultural, social and charity
organisation working under the patronage of the Archbishop of Râmnic.

28www.filantropiaporolissum.wordpress.com.
29www.diaconia.md.
30Activitatea acestei organizații va fi detaliată într-un studiu de caz. Informații suplimentare pot fi obținute

accesând site-ul www.asociatiavasiliada.ro.

31http://www.cuvantulcarezideste.ro.

45
 In 2007, the eight most significant and respectable organisations from the
eparchies of the Romanian Patriarchate working across Romania asked for the Holy
Synod‘s blessing to establish a foundation. Thus, with the Romanian Orthodox
Church‘s Holy Synod‘s approval, the ―Filantropia‖ Federation was founded – the first
organisation of a federal type within the Romanian Patriarchate, unifying the
actions of its members on the national level, while simultaneously allowing them to
preserve their identity and keep their own action plans on a local level.
In 2009 another five establishments joined the eight founding organisations.
By 2010 the number of Federation members had grown to sixteen. One more
organisation was accepted as member in 2011 (the ―Bucuria Ajutorului‖ Foundation
of the Archdiocese of Bucharest), making the total number of members of the
Federation seventeen.
The ―Filantropia‖ Federation provides assistance to various beneficiaries:
abandoned children, the homeless, single-parent families or poor families, HIV-
positive people and people living with AIDS, victims of domestic violence of human
trafficking, the elderly, people with special needs, alcohol and drug addicts, etc.
The ―Filantropia‖ Federation‘s main objectives are as follows:

1. Developing the organisational skills of members or organisations

wishing to become members of the Romanian Orthodox Church‘s
social welfare structures;
2. Fostering cooperation between members and organisations wishing to
become members and the Church‘s local structures, as well as
facilitating exchange of information and good practices between the
member organisations, other non-government organisations operating
with eparchies‘ approval and their social and charity sectors;
3. Developing and implementing general programmes in the following
areas: social assistance, medical and educational assistance and
community development.
Since its inception the ―Filantropia‖ Federation has been involved, as a leader
or a partner, in the implementation of many organisational development and social
intervention projects. In their execution the Federation has worked in collaboration
with a number of partners from Romania and abroad.

Major projects implemented by the ―Filantropia‖ Federation:

1) ANIMANOVA – Integration of Victims of Human Trafficking into the

Labour Market
The ―Filantropia Federation‖, in cooperation with the ―Partnership for Equality‖
Centre (leading organisation) and 5 partner organisations from Italy, implemented
the ―Integration of Victims of Human Trafficking into the Labour Market‖ project,
funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) through the ―Human Resources
Development‖ Operational Programme. The Project was launched in July 2009 and
was realised over a period of 36 months. Its core objective was to develop the skills
and abilities of the key players in the area of prevention and combating human
trafficking and integration of victims of human trafficking into the labour market.

2) SOCIAL – Strategy for Employment and Qualification Through Training and

46
Independence-Promoting Actions
The Project was launched in October 2009, with an implementation period of
36 months, and was funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) through the
―Human Resources Development‖ Operational Programme. The leading organisation
on the Project was the National Prison Administration, in partnership with: the
―Filantropia‖ Federation, the Romanian Patriarchate, the Ministry of Justice, the
Ministry of Labour, Healthcare and Social Policy, several Italian organisations.
Beneficiaries of the Projects were the ―Vasiliada‖ Association (Craiova) and prisons
in Timiş and Dolj. The aim of Project was to reduce the inequality of chances for
prisoners and former prisoners in their transition from imprisonment into civil life
and employment, setting out to provide the social (re)integration service by:
promoting alternative models of employment assistance and developing services for
integration into the work process; generating flexible and innovative jobs.

3) Social inclusion enterprises

This project was started in October 2009 by the ―Filantropia‖ Federation in
partnership with the Romanian Patriarchate and the ―Nonprofit Enterprise and
Self-sustainability Team – Europe (NESsT)‖ Association and was implemented in
the course of 24 months with the financial support of the ―Human Resources
Development‖ Operational Programme. Its objective was to build capacity for
creating and managing social enterprises. They will serve as practical and
innovative tools for increasing the financial sustainability of organisations and
promoting the social inclusion of vulnerable populations.

4) Together for Better Social Services – Building the organisational capacity of

the national network of Christian non-government organisations.
The project‘s duration was 27 months and it was started on September 1st
2010. Its objective is to build institutional capacity for the ―Filantropia‖ Federation
(a national network of Christian non-government organisations working in the field
of social welfare), in order to allow it to be a significant factor in the social inclusion
policy making process on the local, regional and national levels. The project was
funded under the by the ―Human Resources Development‖ Operational Programme.
It was implemented in partnership with the Romanian Patriarchate in the
―Filantropia‖ Federation.

5) FORTE – Sustainable Training for Social Partnership

Starting in September 2010, the ―Filantropia‖ Federation, in cooperation with
the Romanian Patriarchate, Instituto de Formación Integral (IFI) and ―Global
Commercial Development‖, implemented the FORTE project – Sustainable Training
for Social Partnership over an implementation period of 36 months, with the
financial support of the ―Human Resources Development‖ Operational Programme.
The project‘s aim is to develop the organisational skills of officers working in the
administration of the Patriarchate and nine eparchies of the Romanian Orthodox
Church, so as to make them stronger partners in the field of social inclusion on the
national level. The specific objectives of the project are: 1) producing a systematic,
objective and professional assessment of the organisational abilities and social
service provision capacity of the Patriarchate‘s administration and the
administrations of the following eparchies: the Archdiocese of Roman and Bacău, the
Archdiocese of Sibiu, the Archdiocese of Alba Iulia, the Archdiocese of Severin and

47
Strehaia, the Archdiocese of Timişoara, the Archdiocese of Lower Danube, the
Bishopric of Giurgiu, the Bishopric of Tulcea and the Bishopric of Oradea; 2)
upgrading the competences of officers serving in national, regional and local
institutional bodies so as to make the Romanian Patriarchate a more effective, more
transparent and more sustainable partner in the field of social inclusion.

6) Territorial Network of Christian Social Service Providers – Strategic partners

in the field of social inclusion
Between 1 October 2009 and 1 March 2012 the International Orthodox
Christian Charities – IOCC Romania, in partnership with the Romanian
Patriarchate and the ―Filantropia‖ Federation, implemented the Territorial Network
of Christian Social Service Providers project, funded by the European Social Fund
(ESF) through the ―Human Resources Development‖ Operational Programme 2007–
2013. It was implemented in the Archdioceses of Bucharest, Iaşi and Craiova and
focused on developing the organisational capacity of the Romanian Orthodox Church
(ROC) in the administrations of the Patriarchate and three Archdiocese (Bucharest,
Craiova, Iaşi) in Romania as a pilot phase of the seven-year plan for developing the
capacity on the national level and consequently making ROC the strongest strategic
partner of the government in the field of social inclusion.
The project had the following objectives32:
1) Producing a systematic and objective assessment of the organisational
capacity and social service provision capacity on the level of the three eparchies;
2) Creating three diocesan strategies for inclusion in the field of social
assistance and a diocesan plan to support the diocesan strategies;
3) Improving ROC‘s competences in the three abovementioned eparchies as
well as the administration of the Patriarchate so that ROC could act as a more
effective, more transparent and more sustainable partner in the field of social
assistance.
An analysis of the organisational capacity for providing social and charity
services was done as part of the project, on the basis of a survey conducted in 67
branches of the Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC), 39 of which do charity work
(58%) and 28 are social service providers (42%). The survey combined three major
methods: documenting, structured interview and target group, with the latter
method allowing for identification of the most commonly held opinions on the level of
each diocese in terms of:
 The quality and role of the providers of social and charity services in
parishes;
 Ways to improve social service provision;
 The significance of working in a network for the provision of social and
charity services;
 The role of the Romanian Orthodox Church in the field of social
assistance.
It is evident from the report that ―the social and charity aspect is lacking in
terms of meeting the specific social service needs of different categories of
disadvantaged populations, across all eparchies‖, however, on the other hand, the
report highlights the following strengths of the social and charity work done by

32 http://federatia-filantropia.ro/proiecte/proiecte-incheiate/retea-teritoriala-de-furnizori-crestini-de-servicii-
sociale-parteneri-strategici-in-domeniul-incluziunii-sociale/prezentare/.

48
ROC‘s structures: ―the significant institutional capacity for involving volunteers/the
community in the social and charity activities and projects, a much bigger capacity
compared to any other institution in the social welfare field in Romania; the
developed infrastructure which would facilitate the provision of social services; the
widespread territorial network facilitating social service provision; a large potential
for attracting resources (fundraising); a unique coordination structure; dedicated
and committed human resources (albeit inadequate in number).‖
The report33 presents the following statistical data concerning the social and
charity work done through ROC‘s administrative structures:
1. There are 7 certified social service providers (one monastery and 7 NGOs)
and 724 charity providers (8 archpriesthoods, 681 parishes, 35 monasteries
and 1 NGO) in the Archdiocese of Bucharest.
2. There are 19 certifies social service providers (1 diocesan centre, 6
archpriesthoods, 2 parishes – both urban ones – and 10 NGOs) and 1087
charity providers, all parishes, a large number of which (903) urban ones, in
the Archdiocese of Iaşi.
3. There are 3 certifies social service providers (1 diocesan centre, and 2 NGOs)
and 577 charity providers (6 archpriesthoods and 571 parishes, most of which
(487) are rural ones) in the Archdiocese of Craiova.
In conclusion, on the diocesan level, thanks to the social and charity work
done by the Romanian Orthodox Church, 466,537 beneficiaries were covered in 2012.
The work is broken down into two components: social assistance work and charity
work.

Social assistance work

There were 679 operating institutions assisting 89,556 beneficiaries in
Bucharest and in various cities, towns and villages across the eparchies in 2012.
Because of the constant diversification of the services offered and the ongoing
expansion and certification of centres, there is a need for integrated reorganisation
of the competence criteria activities.
Below is the chart of social establishments and their respective beneficiaries
on the church administration level (diocesan centres, archpriesthoods and parishes):

La data efectuarii raportului, nu s-au raportat dacă există servicii sociale acreditate oferite de
33

mânăstirile din Arhiepiscopia Iaşilor şi Arhiepiscopia Craiovei

49
 SOCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS ON THE CHURCH ADMINISTRATION LEVEL
SOCIAL ESTABLISHMENT NO. OF SOCIAL NO. OF
CATEGORIES ESTABLISHMENTS BENEFICIARIES
Community kitchens and bakeries 154 16,139
Health care institutions and chemist‘s 44 16,735
Day centres for children 61 2,715
Day centres for the elderly 22 1,089
Residential centres for the elderly 34 786
Community centres 20 1,989
Family-type centres (foster homes) 37 528
Social kindergartens and day care
34 965
facilities
Safe houses 14 126
Information and consulting centres and
105 35,563
resource centres
Institutions for adult learning 4 580
Emergency accommodation centres (for
the homeless, for victims of domestic
18 910
violence, for victims of human
trafficking)
Camp campuses 12 3,489
Training centres 34 1,199
Other institutions 86 6,743

The social establishments listed above have been founded and are managed
in cooperation with 126 associations and foundations with a social and charity
profile which are either diocesan organisations or operate with the diocese‘s blessing
and in collaboration with local authorities.
The beneficiaries of the social services provided in the abovementioned
establishments are divided into the following categories:
1. Children from social establishments run by the Church but predominantly
from poor families who cannot support them, or children whose parents work
abroad;
2. People with hearing or visual impairments or speech impediments, drug
users and other addicts, HIV-positive people and people living with AIDS;
3. Elderly people from social protection establishments run by the Church, from
social transit centres and overnight shelters, elderly people who live alone
and need help with mobility, people who were abandoned by their family or
people with serious health problems;
4. Unemployed people, adults in need, victims of human trafficking, victims of
domestic violence, released prisoners, natural disaster survivors;
5. Other categories (mothers with children in critical situations, homeless
people, youths leaving the government social protection system, etc.).

50
 NO. OF
BENEFICIARY CATEGORIES
BENEFICIARIES
Children (from poor families who cannot support them, or
children whose parents work abroad; children from social 30,707
centres)
People with hearing or visual impairments or speech
impediments, drug users and other addicts, HIV-positive 17,014
people and people living with AIDS
Elderly people, elderly people who live alone and need help
with mobility, people who were abandoned by their families or 22,717
people with serious health problems
Unemployed people, adults in need, victims of human
trafficking, victims of domestic violence, released prisoners, 17,497
natural disaster survivors
Other categories (mothers with children in critical situations,
homeless people, youths leaving the government social 1,621
protection system when they reach majority, etc.)

There are approximately 2000 partnerships on the parish level between

various religious units within the same parish or from different parishes, with local
administration institutions, educational institutions, health care institutions,
government social assistance institutions, NGOs, etc.
273 projects and programmes are being implemented in different parishes, on
the diocesan administration level: with external funding, with public funding,
funded from own resources or with mixed funding. Apart from them, there are 686
charity projects running.

PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED NO. OF SOCIAL

ON THE DIOCESAN LEVEL PROJECTS AND
PROGRAMMES
External funding 23

Public funding 20

Funding from own resources 168

Mixed funding 62

141 social projects and programmes are being implemented on the non-
government church organisation level: with external funding, with public funding,
funded from own resources or with mixed funding. It should be noted that social
service providers from the diocesan administrative structures and the providers

51
from the non-government church organisations form effective partnerships in their
work on social projects.

NO. OF SOCIAL
PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED ON AN NON-
PROJECTS AND
GOVERNMENT CHURCH ORGANISATION LEVEL
PROGRAMMES
External funding 23
Public funding 27
Funding from own resources 58
Mixed funding 33

Charity work done in the eparchies of the Romanian Orthodox Church has
the following specific expressions:
1. Direct financial aid34 provided to 95,802;
2. In-kind aid35, consisting of: food, clothes, supplies, hygienic and sanitary
items, medicines, electric appliances, etc., provided to 281,179;
3. Collecting material goods36 for the people affected by the snowfall during the
early months of the year.37
The 2012 budget for maintaining the social and charity work done within the
Romanian Patriarchate consists of:
1. Donations, sponsorships, collections for people in need and parishes‘ own
funds;
2. Resources used in the social assistance work, listed in detail below,
comprising: the ―Filantropia‖ Fund (collections from worshippers), parishes‘
and non-government church organisations‘ own funds; external funding;
sponsorships, donations and the ―2%‖ campaign.
The funding resources listed above are used for the following purposes:
1. Direct in-kind and financial assistance;
2. Maintenance and management of social establishments;
3. Organisation and remuneration costs;
4. For people in need (including the value of the goods offered);
5. Development of programmes.
As mentioned above, the social and missionary work in parishes is done with
the help of the associations and foundations operating with the approval of the Holy
Synod or the respective diocese‘s officers. Therefore, 77 organisations with social and
charity profile and 34 youth organisations are involved in the implementation of
dioceses‘ projects.
Generally, the youth organisations‘ involvement consists of:
1. Humanitarian work and visits in foster homes and asylums;
2. Organising camping trips and pilgrimages to monasteries in Romania and
abroad;

34 însumând 5.773.412 lei.

35 în valoare estimată de 13.518.335 lei.
36 în sumă de 1.505.323 lei.
37 în valoare estimată de 492.350 lei.

52
 3. Organising missionary centres for young people in various dioceses;
4. Catechesis activities and missionary and commemorative acts;
5. Preparing and disseminating Christian publications and prayer books;
6. Organising conferences, symposia, youth meetings and Christian nights with
priests, ecclesiastics and people from the cultural sphere;
7. Organising competitions to promote Christianity‘s traditions and values;
8. Providing religious assistance to people with hearing impairments;
9. Organising religious music festivals and competitions.
Using its administrative and organisational structure and with its human
and logistical potential, the Romanian Orthodox Church can help expand and
diversify the existing social service system, having also in mind the Church‘s
willingness to spare resources and community players and its capacity to deliver
social assistance services to disadvantaged individuals from the religious
communities which it leads as their shepherd, directly and in a personalised
manner. ROC is an important community player and an active partner of the official
institutions for provision of social services.

53
 3. DIFFICULTIES AND PROBLEMS FOR THE SOCIAL AND CHARITABLE
WORK OF THE BULGARIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

Kostadin Nushev

The elapsed over two decades since the beginning of social change in Bulgaria
have given rise to many new hopes and ideas in Bulgarian society and have
provoked different political, economic and cultural views and projects that are often
deeply contradictory or incompatible. Some of these ideological strands and public
tendencies for change have brought people together and strengthened society, while
others have been the cause of new divisions and have even urged different social
groups and communities to confront each other. Many of these new opportunities for
socio-political, economic, public and spiritual development over the years have given
Bulgarians hope and optimism, but they have also caused deep disappointment,
confusion, insecurity and indifference to specific policy undertakings and public
initiatives, political projects or various party programmes. What has been happening
in the state and in society has also affected the Church, which is still unable to fully
deploy its social and charitable work and completely satisfy the spiritual and social
needs of Orthodox Christians.
There exist many historical, organisational, financial and other difficulties
and obstacles to the development of the church social and charitable function by the
structures and organisations of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The political
changes of 1994 significantly limited the active social mission of the Church
stripping it of large areas of public and cultural influence, while its educational and
social functions in society were completely abolished. For several decades the
Bulgarian Church was in a state of oppression and struggled to perform its basic
obligations in the public sphere. During this period the enactment of social work for
the population was fully seized by the state and its administrative institutions.
During that time the Church could hardly maintain its traditional forms of social
ministry, did not enrich its experience through any extensive charitable work as
before, and did not even prepare students for these forms of church service as there
were no opportunities for ministry work. The built social infrastructure for the
charitable and benevolent work of the Church was nationalised and seized from the
Office of the Bulgarian Exarchate after the changes of 1944. This gradually led to a
loss of the traditions at parish, diocesan and national level associated with
philanthropy, charity, social work and benevolent service inspired by the Christian
moral principles of compassion and care for the suffering and needy neighbour.
In the period 1950-1990 the work of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church with
orphaned children and adolescents was limited and its orphanages and shelters
were nationalised and turned into state-run institutions. At that time the Holy
Synod maintained and financed dormitories and boarding houses only for the
students at the Spiritual Seminary, which during the bombing of Sofia was moved to
the Cherepish Monastery, and the students at the Theological Academy ―St Kliment
Orhidski‖.
This was the condition in which the political changes of 1989 hit the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church. These changes brought many new hopes for freedom

54
and wider prospects for philanthropic and charitable events but they also brought
many difficult obstacles and trials within and without the Church. Actually, we can
approach the social alienation and spiritual crisis having emerged in the last five
decades of the past century largely through the prism of our own contemporary
reality, which is marked by processes of dehumanisation and a moral and spiritual
crisis resurfacing as consequences both in the life of the Church and in public life.
After 1991 the need to restore the social institutions and the charitable
functions of the Church was again set on the agenda. Many clergymen and
theologians saw in this an opportunity to reconstruct the system of parish and
diocesan Orthodox societies and Christian fraternities. The ad-hoc charitable events
of the Church and the distribution of the donations received from other local
Orthodox churches and international Christian charities in the years of economic
crisis at the beginning of the changes are gradually beginning to take on a more
organised shape. This process is supported by the awareness of the need for a special
programme for organised Christian charitable work of the Church shared by many
members of the clergy and the laity, as well as by many theologians. This was
further confirmed by the decisions of the Ecclesiastical and National Council of the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church of 1997. The latter clearly identify the need to restore
the organised forms of social and charitable ministry of the Church and define
guidelines for its development.
In remote and less developed areas of the country priests and parish
communities experience demographic problems in a more direct and tangible way.
The latter are the result of social and economic processes leading to depopulation of
villages and generating heavy migration. The way that priests deal with this severe
social problem by activating the social function of their parish communities is to
seek new forms of spiritual action and new methods of social work in the
community.
The main task of priests and parish communities in such less advanced areas
of the country is to find a way to enhance the Church‘s role in supporting families
and young people. They should be encouraged to continue their education, acquire
valuable professional skills and stay with their communities in order to raise
families and bring up more than one child. Social exclusion and depopulation are,
according to the representatives of the Church, two of the main problems facing our
society and the nation.
At local level, for parish communities these social and demographic problems
associated with poverty, economic exclusion and migration manifest themselves in
the tendency of young people to migrate from smaller settlements to larger cities,
which in turn causes other problems for local communities and society in general. At
national level, the corresponding demographic and social problems are evident in the
steady trend of young, well-educated and working-age Bulgarians leaving their
country in search of professional and social opportunities abroad. These
contemporary processes of social fragmentation, isolation and migration result in
changes in both local and parish communities, as well as in their social composition.
On the one hand, fewer young people remain in the parish, while on the other, the
parish priest is required to maintain spiritual relationships and administer pastoral
services to his flock who are away from their homeland and parish. This connection
is achieved mostly through establishing new forms of communication, maintaining
spiritual communion and preserving the community spirit through prayer and
administration of sacraments, albeit from a distance, as well as through efforts to

55
maintain normal and regular communication with the help of new information tools
and technologies. These new trends of social development require the Church to be
more flexible in establishing and maintaining relationships with its spiritual flock
and to sustain a different type of communication. This further affects its social work
and the mobilisation of support for various charities or charitable events.
The systematic study of the gaps, achievements and development prospects
for the social work of the Church can be useful in shaping strategic guidelines and
can assist the development of this traditional and organised form of Christian
charity in society, as well as promote more successful cooperation between different
state and church institutions for effective social intervention and inclusion of various
vulnerable groups of the population. Overcoming these difficulties in church
practices will require carrying out targeted analysis and evaluation of past
initiatives and organisational forms of social work of the Church with a view to
presenting in a systematic manner both the difficulties and obstacles and the
opportunities to effectively surmount the deficiencies in this area. This will further
necessitate obtaining information about existing good models of social work of the
Church and studying good practices of its successful implementation and
development.
The most important task of such detailed study should be to take into account
certain key elements and outline some relevant key aspects, such as:
а) The attitudes to the administration of the traditional charity of the Church
among the specific target groups – Orthodox clergy, students of Theology, social
workers and Christian believers;
b) The expectations of wider groups of the population and different categories
of professionals, such as educators, social workers and representatives of the
specialised administration, about the duties which the Church should assume in the
administration of social services – working with orphans, elderly, lonely and sick
people, prisoners and their families, drug addicts etc.;
c) Analysis of the church resources and the willingness of the clergy to
participate in social and charitable activities in cooperation with government
institutions, public organisations and NGOs;
d) The difficulties and obstacles to activate the social ministry of the Church
and formulation of proposals on how to overcome these difficulties and obstacles
based on a benchmarking analysis of successful models and best practices of other
local Orthodox churches.
The purpose of such study is to perform a thorough analysis of the gaps,
achievements and development prospects for the social work of the structures of the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church and its related public and non-governmental
organisations with a view to enabling a more successful and effective performance of
their social function, including to promote the social inclusion of vulnerable groups.
A specific objective of the study is to identify the gaps and difficulties
associated with the organisation of the inherent for the Church social and charitable
support activities that are a result of the legacy of the totalitarian regime and the
oppression of the church community.

56
 4. DIFFICULTIES AND PROBLEMS FOR THE SOCIAL AND CHARITABLE
WORK OF THE ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

Spătărelu-Iancu Paula Smaranda

In Romania the scope of the social welfare system (enforced through the public
institutions) is very large, most of the Romanian citizens receiving at least one type of
monetary benefit, either directly or indirectly (as members of a benefiting household, by
splitting the aid). Almost half of the Romanian population have at least one source of
income paid from social security benefit contributions in their households, the most
common being occupational pensions and disability pensions. Among the non-
contribution-based benefits directly or indirectly used by Romanians, child benefit
payments take the largest share, followed by supplementary and special benefits for
people with disabilities.
Even though the state‘s social welfare costs are constantly growing (from 1.4% of
GDP in 2005 to 2.86% of GDP in 2010), the results do not match the expectations (for
example, big spending on child raising benefits did not result in a higher birth rate).
The main issue with the state social welfare system in Romania is its level of success in
reducing poverty and inequality among the population while operating at maximum
effectiveness, directing benefit payments only to those entitled to them. We believe that
the main reason for this issue is contained in the mechanism for assessment,
verification and inspection which is not always effective and has a potential for errors
and abuse, which leads to an ineffective cost/benefit ratio of the system.
The Romanian Orthodox Church‘s involvement in social welfare, as a
―philanthropic‖ entity, should be supplementary to the state‘s role in that sphere. This
means that all assistance provided by the Church through its dioceses and monasteries,
which support social welfare with their work and which are not certified as social
service providers, would be used by, more or less, the same categories of people who also
receive social security benefits from the state, but in amounts inadequate to help them
overcome poverty.
When asked how the Church could help people in need, the responders to the
questionnaire developed, as part of the ―Development Through Social Inclusion‖,
BG051P0001-7.0.07-0099-C0001 project, gave the following answers, in order to
strengthen the importance: first, of the spiritual and moral support, followed by
spiritual and material assistance, establishment of own charitable institutions and
cooperation with social institutions. Therefore, the responders believe that philanthropy
should be a way for the Church to participate in social assistance.
With regard to the cases when it provides financial aid to disadvantaged persons
through its structures, which are not certified social service providers, the main problem
for the Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC) is the mechanism for assessment of needs
and monitoring which is based on working tools devised by expert staff, and the number
of employees in the Social Assistance Services is insufficient to meet the needs of the
charity work done by ROC‘s structures.
Very often we do not have an accurate assessment of the needs of a given
community so as to allow us to set priorities for the respective social and charitable
intervention. The mechanisms of the monitoring process have not been standardised
and the impact of the social and charity services offered on the parish level on the

57
beneficiaries and the community is not evaluated. Charity work is not done according to
a plan with clear objectives but on an ad-hoc basis.
An important part of the funds raised and used in the charity work done by
parishes and monasteries are the in-kind contributions which in some cases are not
quantified nor financially evaluated with a single set of methods. There is no
standardised system for approaching financial management on the parish and
monastery levels.
―The problems with accounting to which we have been alerted are more systemic
than linked to individual priests. Keeping accounting reports and enforcing financial
management are not a result of the initiative and creativity of the Church‘s officers, but
obligations which should be resolved by instituting a single system based on a clear set
of methods. The fact that there is no concern for training staff in this field or hiring
specialised personnel shows that on the decision-making factor level, financial reporting
and accounting are not seen as an important and mandatory function.‖ 38
The inadequate number of qualified personnel is a problem with multiple
consequences for ROC‘s social assistance work. An acute need for social service
specialists has been identified, especially in rural communities. This is a problem of
social assistance work on the national level, not just within ROC. If we apply the
number of social assistants to the entire Romanian population, we would see that
Romania has approximately 5,000 active social assistants (3,500 of whom are from the
national Social Assistance College) serving 21,5 million citizens, which gives us a ratio
of 4,300 citizens to one social assistant – far below the levels of other European
countries, such as Sweden (1/300), Great Britain (1/600) or Italy (1/1600).39
Furthermore, officials‘ education does not match the standards required for
providing social and charity services. A number of educational courses and exchange of
experience in the field of social assistance were conducted as a result of the
implementation of certain projects, but they cannot meet the existing demand.
Even though the diocese‘s centres are by and large active participants in the field
of social assistance as effective social service providers and reliable partners of
government institutions, on the parish and monastery levels social services are
underdeveloped and local factors‘ participation is scant. The reasons for this are self-
evident (lack of funds, lack of specialised personnel), but even so, we believe that on the
national level, parishes and monasteries underperform in the field of social work, many
limiting themselves to charity work only.
60% of responders to questionnaires devised under the ―Development Through
Social Inclusion‖, BG051P0001-7.0.07-0099-C0001 Project, believe that the main
problem ROC faces in terms of providing social services is insufficient independent
income to allow it to organise the social and charitable work needed, while 28% identify
organisation, and in particular difficulties in mobilising and organising the Church‘s
human resources in the provision of its social and charitable services, as the main
problem.
The answers to the question, ―Which, in your estimation, are the main

SINTEZA RAPORTULUI DE ANALIZĂ A CAPACITĂŢII ORGANIZAŢIONALE DE LIVRARE DE SERVICII

38

SOCIALE ŞI FILANTROPICE, intocmit in cadrul proiectului ID 21561: „Reţea Teritorială de Furnizori Creştini
de Servicii Sociale”.
ANALIZA SOCIO-ECONOMICĂ PENTRU PROGRAMAREA FONDURILOR EUROPENE 2014-2020 ,
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58
hindrances before ROC‘s social mission?‖ are as follows:
Economic – the Church does not have a sufficient
independent income to allow it to organise the necessary 60%
social and charitable work and activities.

Organisational – difficulties in mobilising and organising

the Church‘s human resources in the provision of its social 28%
and charitable services

Historical – over the span of several decades the Church

did not provide such services, so it does not currently have 9%
enough experience in the field of social services.

Spiritual and religious – the Church should participate in

social service provision as it is not an obligation of the 3%
Church but of the state and the social institutions;

When asked ―Which, in your estimation, are the reasons why your parish cannot
participate in solving these problems?‖ responders to the abovementioned questionnaire
replied as follows:

80 % - Lack of sufficient funds for this kind of activities

48 % - Lack of qualified human resources
25 % - Lack of collaboration and assistance from the authorities
52 % - Lack of general information about solutions to such problems
15 % - It is not the diocese‘s responsibility to solve the community‘s problems
8 % - Lack of time
Given the fact that 80% of responders believe that ―lack of funds‖ is the main
hindrance before social work, fundraising is a crucial process, a prerequisite for ROC to
perform its social work functions. Nevertheless, this work is usually spontaneous, a
result of identifying cases or situations where an intervention is needed, or in case of
tension due to exhaustion of available resources. No fundraising or annual social
welfare costs estimates have been planned for, which makes the approach to social cases
an arduous one, and the time for raising the necessary funds is often very long.

59
 Various fundraising methods are used, a good share of which are contribution in
kind by individuals or companies, sponsorships and donations for specific feast days.
Investments in the maintenance of the fundraising process are modest, set against a
lack of communication between the participants in the process and in the context of very
poor evaluation of the donors‘ level of satisfaction. There are difficulties in fundraising
due to the use of mostly traditional methods (collection from the community) instead of
modern methods.
When it comes to non-government organisations (NGOs) operating under ROC‘s
patronage, we see a very different situation. The non-government sector plays a crucial
role in the provision of services to vulnerable populations. NGOs have become key
providers of social services, integration opportunities and employment for vulnerable
populations in the working process, not just within ROC. In 2009, on the national level,
non-government organisations comprised 49% of certified social service providers,
covering 5% of alternative child protection services and serving 41% of the beneficiaries
of home care services from their own funding sources. Further, NGOs are important
education service providers in the field of primary and secondary education, and in the
field of professional qualification and retraining courses. Nonetheless, their national
coverage is uneven, with the number of private service providers on the regional level
(including Bucharest) varying between 3 and 122. 40
In the sphere of NGOs operating with ROC‘s approval, the main sources of
funding social welfare work are grants/donations from international institutions and
foundations from the European Union, and national and local public institutions. In
that case fundraising is of substantial import and very often there are plans in place for
raising funds and the responsible persons appointed.
In conclusion, we believe that the main problems which ROC faces in terms of its
social welfare work are as follows:
 Insufficient funds necessary to satisfy all requests by beneficiaries;
 Insufficient number of qualified staff in the field of social assistance;
 No plans/strategies developed in the field of social welfare work on the parish or
monastery levels;
 No plans for fundraising or for annual social welfare costs estimates have been
developed on the parish or monastery levels;
 No support network for priests active in the social and charity field which would
allow them access to information about various fundraising opportunities
(fundraising routes) which do not require a social service provider status; poor
exchange of experience and information allowing for sharing both positive
experiences and the problems faced by individual parishes;
 Lack of accurate assessment of the needs of a given community so as to allow us
to set priorities for the respective social and charitable intervention. The
monitoring and internal evaluation mechanisms have not been standardised;
 No standardised system for examining financial management in the social work
field, on any level of ROC‘s structure, contribution in kind is not quantified or
financially evaluated by means of a single set of methods, there is a shortage of
accounting specialists.

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 CHAPTER THREE

BEST PRACTICES AND STRATEGIC GUIDELINES FOR

IMPROVING THE SOCIAL AND CHARITABLE WORK OF THE
CHURCH

1. REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF BEST PRACTICES FOR SOCIAL AND

CHARITABLE WORK OF THE CHURCH

Kostadin Nushev
Carla Cavallini
Andrian Aleksandrov
Fabrizio Mandreoli
Spătărelu-Iancu Paula Smaranda

Initiatives of the Orthodox Churches in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Russia, of

some church parishes in Italy as well as Evangelical-Protestant Congregations and
Municipalities in Germany, Norway, Estonia and Holland.

Within the framework of the investigative work completed on the project,

«Development through Social Inclusion», several best practices for the social and the
charitable work of the Church were analyzed, and Christian charity initiatives were
studied and recorded, including those belonging to the Orthodox parishes in the
diocesan centers in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, and the Russian Federation, local
initiatives of the Italian Church, as well as in some Evangelical municipalities in
Germany, Holland, Norway and Estonia.
Among the listed charitable activities, one finds some of the most important
best church social practices, which are applicable to the Bulgarian Church and its
socio-cultural context. The intention of this review of best practices is to introduce
modern innovative decisions for social and diakonia work in order to help those in
society that are in need, both individuals and groups.

Best practices of church social ministries in Bulgaria.

Within the framework of project, different church initiatives were researched

including the parish and diocesan social ministries of Sofia and Diocese of Sofia,
Plovdiv and Diocese of Plovdiv, Blagoevgrad and Diocese of Nevrokop, Vidin and
Diocese of Vidin, Varna and Diocese of Varna. The following are the more important
new and innovative practices of parish and diocesan church social ministries:

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 1. Parish initiative «Baskets for those in need», conceived of by the parish of
the ―Saint Paraskevi‖ Church in the city of Plovdiv. It is the initiative of the parish
priest Emil Paralingov. It is a new practice for the Bulgarian church and represents
a best social practice. According to the priest's initiative, a big basket is placed in
the church's narthex and the believing parishioners fulfilling the Christian
exhortation of their priest to show mercy and charity voluntarily collect food
products that are well-packaged and durable. When the basket is full, the initiating
group of parishioners decides together which needy families or individuals in the
parish will receive the gathered food products. When the donations are divided and
distributed, a new basket of products is collected. In this way, the ministry is not
only a one time campaign or just during the Christian holidays, but it is an ongoing
practice of the parish's social and charitable ministries that happens throughout the
year leading to the formation of the habit of providing periodic assistance to those in
need from the entire parish.
2. The initiative of the parish in Berkovitza to provide a soup kitchen for the
poor. The Orthodox Parish Priest, Father Evgeni, from the city of Berkovitsa
organized a Sunday school for children of poor families and youth from the
orphanages in the city of Berkovitsa in 2013. Alongside the spiritual enlightenment
activities of the Sunday School was also organized a free meal for those children,
youth and adults in need. Many manufacturers of food products in the city provided
support for the parish meals having been enlisted by the parish priest as donors.
These donors provide different food products for each day of the parish's weekly
program of ministries. The social practices of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church are
new and innovative because they bring together at once the priest and parish, with
different donors from the business world, and those individuals and families that are
socially-challenged and in need.
3. The parish initiative to provide support for the homeless shelter, „Saint
Nicholas the Miracle-Maker‖, in the city of Novi Han, Diocese of Sofia. Many of the
priests and parishioners from the city of Sofia as well as those from the „St. Apostle
Andrew the Protocletus― Church and the Diocese of Vidin support the social
ministries of the shelter of Father Ivan from Novi Han and his colony of residents in
the village of Yakimovo in the region of Montana. These parishioners collect food and
other needed products for the tenants of the shelter as well as enlist donors from
their parishes and dioceses with the goal of raising financial and other forms of
support for the shelter.
4. Initiative to collect donations and financial help for families of youth with
narcotics addiction from the Diocesan Orthodox Centre of the Diocese of Nevrokop in
Blagoevgrad. Volunteers from the Orthodox Centre work together with
representatives from the Regional Council for the prevention of Narcotics Addiction
and representatives from the Social Services of the Municipality of Blagoevgrad.
The practice is innovative and has led to the inclusion of the parish and diocesan
church organizations for social ministries into the broader public initiatives reaching
out to specific groups in need and the poor.
5. Volunteer Parish Initiatives supporting children in social institutions.
Parish priests from Sofia (The Parish Centre of the „Intercession of the Theotokos‖
Church) and from Plovdiv (the Orthodox priest Angel Brusov of the „Transfiguration
of Christ― Church) organize volunteers from their parishes for visits and social
ministries in order to support the children from the children's homes. The initiative
represents a best practice on how to organize Orthodox volunteer initiatives for

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providing friendly care for children in social institutions. The established connection
between representatives of the parish and the children in the social institutions
helps overcome issues of isolation as well as help the children and youth, who are
lacking parental care and are cared for by the social institutions, to develop better
social skills.
6. The social action supporting the poor and those in need called „I See You―
of „Pokrov Bogorodichen― Foundation. The action is found on the Orthodox website,
„Pravoslavie.bg,― and it's goal is to attract donors and volunteers to support specific
people in need in the Bulgarian community.

Best practices for social and charitable work of the Greek Orthodox Church

One of the goals of the project was to research the parish social charitable
work of two big Orthodox parishes in Athens:

1. The parish of the „St. Luke the Evangelist― Church in one of the Athens‘s
neighborhood.
2. The parish youth centre of the „Saint Eleftherios― on Aharnon Street, #
382, (www.orthmad.gr).

1. The first parish represents a best practice in the social practice through
charity campaigns, such as their „Eranos Agapis―. This is a regular charity
campaign to ask for financial support from the parishes in the Archdiocese of
Athens. These campaigns are held regularly and often during the different holidays.
These campaigns often happen on the eve of important Christian holidays such as
Christmas, when the Greek Orthodox parishes organize large-scale campaigns to
collect funds for the so-called, „erganos―. This practice involves an exhortation and
invitation to take part personally in the parish's ministries or to leave a certain
amount as a donation in the special coffers in the parish church. The parishes print
special invitations and coupons with different amounts that the parishioners and
other citizens buy with funds that they have set aside for the coffers for the poor.
This campaign includes two types of activities: 1. the collection of funds through
donations made to special coffers placed in the churches for the poor and those in
need and 2. The canvassing of streets, supermarkets, and people's homes by special
volunteers with the goal of distributing the above-mentioned vouchers (coupons) and
to collect funds for the coffers for the poor. The collected funds are spent for different
reasons: 1. Food for the poor and homebound people; 2. To buy medicine for the poor
and those in need; 3. Providing monthly help for children and poor families; 4.
Campaigns for blood donations; 5. Visitation of the sick and elderly in their homes
by volunteers; 6. Visitation of the elderly or homebound; 7. Collection and
distribution of clothes for poor families; 8. Provide support for students of poor
families. Campaigns for the collection of funds are organized on Christmas Eve and
on the eve of Easter and also at the celebration of each parish church's holiday.
They print special brochures with information about the parish organizers – the
Orthodox parish priest or the person responsible for the social work, telephone
numbers, internet site of the church organization and information concerning the
collection and distribution of the funds.
2. The parish of „St. Luke the Evangelist― in one of the Athens‘ neighborhoods
in Athens maintains a parish shelter – church home for elderly people and a shelter

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for the mentally ill. In the shelter for elderly single people are sheltered and
provided accommodations for individuals without families and the parish provides
care for them. A council exists as a part of the parish for the receiving of donations
and spending of collected funds for social activities. The church council works under
the supervision of the parish priest (Protopresbyter Evtihios Kondadakis). The
council periodically presents audits of the collected and spent funds and through this
practice they foster the trust of the parishioners that they are administering and
distributing the collected funds for the church parish's social activities correctly.
3. The parish churches in Athens maintain a „coffer for the poor―, in which
they collect donations that are earmarked for the support of the social work of the
church parish. Periodically, the coffers are opened and the collected amount is
recorded. The funds are distributed based upon recent requests and upon the
judgment of the priest and the parish council for the needs of the parish. They
prepare packages of food and give them to poor families. They regularly audit the
collected and distributed funds, which maintain a system of transparency and trust
among parishioners and donors.
4. The organization of church shelters for the mentally ill through the receipt
of donations from private donors, who have willed their property to the Church for
that particular purpose. The Archdiocese created a foundation that is overseen by an
administrative council, which supervises the donated building and maintenances the
created centre for the accommodating of the mentally ill, according to the current
medical and social norms and standards for similar social care based upon a family
system.
5. Organization of summer camps for poor families in the parish. During the
summer vacation, while the parents are still working, the parish centre for social
ministries and cultural enlightenment organize summer camps for children of
different ages. The camps are held at special parish centres or monastery complexes
that have the needed conditions for accommodating groups of children and youth.
The programmes are organized according to the child's school age and educators,
religious educators, and social workers each working with the children for different
reasons help with the implementation of the activities. Parents of the children may
attend and take part alongside the team of educators conducting the different
activities.
6. Youth parish centres for training and social activities. The parish of the
„Saint Eleftherios― Church has a programme that works with preschool-age and
school-age children, as well as youth. The programme is organized with different
training activities based upon the age group or by those directing the activity. These
are church afterschool programmes including arts and crafts, iconography, music
and choir activities, sport and choreography, cooking and traditional cuisine, and the
art of photography. Groups exist that do missions work and provide social support
for Orthodox Christian missions in the countries of the African continent. Other
programmes focus on visitation of prisoners as well as other social actions. Each
parish and its social work has its' own professional leader, who organizes the youth
and observes the professional forms and standards. The ministries of the youth
parish centre are organized jointly with the organization of the Greek church
„Apostoliki Diakonia―, which issues certificates certifying that the youth has passed
a course of training.
7. Parish spiritual centre providing meals for the poor. Each of the parishes
and dioceses of the Greek Church in Athens have special centres that maintain

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kitchens and provide meals for the poor. The food products for the centres are
donated by businessmen, according to their ability, and the food is prepared by
volunteers, who work under the supervision of the bishop or parish priest. The food
is given to those in need or delivered to the sick and homebound in their homes.

Best social practices of the Russian Orthodox Church

1. A special Synod Council for Social and Charitable Work of the Church
exists as a part of the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Synod Council
for Ministries of Compassion and Church-Social Ministries coordinates different
church initiatives and supervises those programs in the Russian Orthodox Church.
A special website for ministries of compassion and charity, www.miloserdie.ru, exists
to promote social ministries and to create a society of Orthodox priests, social
workers, educators and psychologists.
2. Many of the parishes in the Russian Orthodox Church have created church
parish centres for work with children and youth with handicaps. Several parishes in
the Russian Orthodox Church have created special daycare centres and work
communes in order to support children with handicaps or mentally-challenged
youth. These children and youth are included in the life of parish as they take part
in the worship services and in certain types of work activities. In this way, the youth
are able socialize and feel useful because of the skills they have learned. Parish
priests, psychologists, educators and social workers are involved in the work. The
creations of the group are sold on church holidays or at exhibitions of similar
products held by foundations and charitable associations. The funds that are earned
buy new materials and gifts for the children and youth.
3. Some of the bigger Orthodox monasteries of the Russian Church have
special shelters for children-orphans, communes for youth drug addicts and centres
for work therapy, providing treatment and rehabilitation for youth with different
addictions. Doctors-psychologists, priests, social workers and other specialists work
at these therapeutic communes. In Russia, the communes and parish centres of the
Archimandrite Anatoli Berestov and Professor Dimitri Avdeev, M.D. Their models
and social practices for spiritual and church work have been studied and applied in
some of the centres of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. For example, in Varna and
in the Varna Diocese exists a programme of joint work with the Russian centres in
order to study and apply their experience.

Best social practices of the Evangelical Protestant Church in Germany,

Holland and Estonia.

1. The social ministries of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD –

Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland) are traditionally well-known, developed, and
exceptionally well-organized to professional standards. Besides the initiatives at the
parish and local level, there also exists a special organization for Christian diakonia
ministries that is called Diakonisches Werk der EKD (Deacon's Work). This
organization is centralized and has many branches that perform different
professional social ministries. These ministries comply to approved government
norms and standards for charitable actions and initiatives including teamwork,
financial accountability, budget stability and control. Church social ministries in
Germany are financed through revenue obtained through the Church Tax, that is

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paid voluntarily by German citizens to the church, where they are members. As a
result of this system of financial stability, a corresponding system of control exists
represented by the government tax authorities and a special commission and
committee of the social-diakonia work of the Church. The theological faculties
provide special training for priests and church workers on the organization of church
diakonia ministries. 2. A best practice of a parish church social work is the
organization of clothes and food collection for the poor and needy people in the local
area of the parish or for the poor and needy people in other countries. A certain
parish has a special bin for clothes, where members of the parish drop off their
donations. Periodically, these donations are processed and arranged according to
size and different styles. The items are distributed by a special group of volunteers
and supervisors, who also prepare the needed reports.
3. Parish programmes for work with the homeless and poor. The parishes
organize special programs for social work with immigrants, homeless people as well
as with sick and homebound elderly people. Many youth and volunteers take part in
these social ministries. Special clubs are organized by the parish according to
people's interests or based on different programs. These clubs are supported through
the budgets for social ministries of the municipalities or of different foundations.
4. Periodic campaigns for donations of food and other products for those in
need in social institutions and church parishes in Eastern Europe. Many evangelical
communities in Germany and Holland organized donations for specific social
institutions for orphans in Eastern European countries and transport it there with
their own funds. Parish priests, pastors and volunteers of evangelical church
communities organize campaigns to collect funds for these special institutions such
as children's homes in Bulgaria or Father Ivan's Shelter in Novi Han. For example,
Bulgarian volunteers and parish communities of different church communities in
Germany through the „Friends of Bulgaria― Foundation periodically collect food,
clothes, and other products for residents of the church shelter and other social
institutions.
5. Mobile work with street children. The organization „Diakonisches Werk―
in the city of Tubingen organizes and finances, through donations given by their
members, special programs to train social workers for work with homeless children.
In some Eastern European countries like Russia, Romania and Bulgaria that have
many street children that have not been covered by the current systems of social
care and are not receiving an education, the „Diakonisches Werk― provides support
by helping organize a system of church social work with street children. They also
fund training for social workers and volunteers, who will seek out these homeless
children that wander the streets. These children will be placed in special daycare
centres and sheltered housing that will be provided by Orthodox Church
Institutions. In these institutions using programs for social welfare, the temporarily
placed homeless children and youth will be beginning their school education again or
will be provided with help in finding a job. These ministries will gradually create
conditions of social security and socialization for these homeless children and youth.
6. Joint charitable and social actions of parish communities with different groups of
youth and other informal organizations. In order to attract support for the
organization of social and charitable actions for poor parishes, or for people in need
in social institutions in some of the poorest regions in Eastern European countries,
many Dutch church parishes are partnering with humanitarian or social
organizations. Dutch protestant communities, who have a traditional mission‘s

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orientation to their ministries, attract many different public organizations and
professional associations to their causes, especially their charitable actions of
collecting financial help and food products.
With their support, aid is collected, transported and accompanied to the
respective cities and villages in Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, and other Eastern
European countries.
Many children's homes and church shelters in Bulgaria receive aid from such
joint charitable actions. Such Christian charitable actions create an interest in
church organizations to organize groups of bikers, ecologists, boy scout organizations
and student associations to provide psychological support or social work.
7. In Estonia, local parishes of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church
have created their own charitable work through the financial support of their
members – those, who regularly come to worship services. Some of the parishes
offer social ministries or are developing projects for work with ethnic minorities.
Other priests work in prison chapels. It is quite common for parish priest to have a
second work – serving in chapels or social institutions or providing pastoral care for
health issues. Many parishes are developing social projects to help children in need
and families in risk as well as elderly people and handicapped people. Some
parishes organize soup kitchens for the poor or those in need, or distribute
humanitarian aid, while others care for groups of alcoholics. Projects also exist for
providing pillows and blankets to people that have been released from prison, as
well as for collecting food for those in need. Estonian parish priests work with drug
addicts and with different social groups that are at risk, including youth and
children. Some of the ministries that are led by church members are: leading Bible
studies, organizing religious education, choirs and ensembles, leading groups of
elderly people, youth and children, Sunday school, recreational activities (working
with wood) or even exercise groups. Some of the bigger parishes have opened
daycare centres for children and even religious schools. Others have opened stores
for Christian books, church supplies, icons and symbols.
Another best practice of the Estonian church is the so-called villages of hope,
where alcohol and drug addiction rehabilitation are offered. „Village of Hope― is a
NGO that works in the interest of society, with the main goal of helping socially
disadvantaged people – addicted to alcohol or drugs – by helping them apply
methods for quitting, with rehabilitation and re-integration into society. In the
„Village of Hope―, drug addicts live together and are trained together. The Village is
30 km from Tallinn. It was founded in 2000 by Priest Mart, who grew up in Canada
and along with his wife, Alta, became missionaries, who were sent to the former
Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. After the fall of the USSR, they went to Estonia,
where they founded the «Village of Hope». Drug addicts and alcoholics are trained
every day following a certain program that consists of four levels. The program uses
interactive teaching that accents the connection between chemical addiction and the
spiritual treatment of emotional disbalance. The skills obtained through the training
along with the focus on the person's relationship with God increase the effectiveness
of the spiritual treatment and lead to humility. Every resident of the commune has
certain tasks that they have to finish each work day. The goal is for the drug and
alcohol addicts to develop a stronger work ethic and to also develop their teamwork
skills. The classroom teachers play the role of work supervisors and do everything
possible to strengthen the addict's character through real life situation. The
commune also offers training in leadership skills. The leadership training program

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is offered to those addicts, who desire additional recovery training. It is a ten month
program that equips the trainee to become a trainer, a team leader, a manager in the
work place and to apply their work ethic with the younger participants in the
program.

Best social practices of the Norwegian Church.

Up until 2012, the Norwegian Church was a government church of the

Lutheran faith. The pastors of the churches were state employees and the bishops
were chosen by the Minister of Church Activities. On 21 May 2012, the Norwegian
parliament had a vote to end the historical relationship between the government
and the Lutheran Church that had begun in the 16th century. The main result of
this decision was that the government no longer had the power to appoint bishops of
the Norwegian Church. It became the church's responsibility. Until 2012, the second
article of the Norwegian constitution stated that the Evangelical-Lutheran religion
was the official state religion. While the new changes to the second article does not
state that the country has an official religion, it does state that Norwegian values
are based on their Christian and humanitarian heritage.
Diakonia is a social-charitable work provided in the Norwegian Church. The
Norwegian Church thinks of itself as a charitable church, and diakonia is a part of
church's main mission. Church parish councils are responsible for initiatives and
diakonia at the local level. These councils often play the role of employers and are
an important factor in implementing social-charitable ministries. On the other
hand, the so-called bishops council controls the implementation of the diakonia in
local parishes according to the national plans for diakonia.
1. One of the best practices of the Norwegian Church is their „Help for
Churches in Norway― Organization. The organization is an ecumenical social-
charity and humanitarian organization that is led by local Christian faiths and
Christian organizations in Norway. The organization has branches throughout
Norway, but they also partner with global, regional and local church networks and
faith organizations. It is a member of the Council of Churches, which include
churches and organizations from Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant traditions. It is
also a member of the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation
and other world Christian organizations. The organization is represented by it's
members, local and national organizations, local parishes, government and citizens
of Norway, including the media. They are financed by the Norwegian government,
corporate and individual donors. Most of their income comes from NORAD and the
Norwegian Foreign Ministry. The organizations income for 2012 was equal to 140
million Norwegian Krons coming from private donors, who donated 32 million
Norwegian Krons in part through the annual charity campaigns, organized during
the fasts leading up to Easter. Additional funds were given by international
organizations, for example the UN and others. The organization helps poor people
and communities, situated in remote regions where other international
organizations do not have activities due to the regions remoteness, political
instability or insecurity. Besides these activities, it also exercises influence over
political decisions at every level: locally, nationally, regionally and internationally. It
applies different forms of lobbyism, including political campaigns and
communications through the media, when that proves necessary.
The organization works at the local level (by supporting specific projects), at

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the national level (encouraging the government to fulfill it's responsibilities) and at
the global level (in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, South Africa, West
Africa and East Africa) and also supervises a network of Norwegian and
international organizations and church organizations that share it's vision, mission
and values. The organization is focused on: insuring economic justice, the fight
against AIDS/HIV, the fight against all forms of violence, insuring peace and
security and the fight against global warming. It also fights to overcome the gap
between the rich and the poor. It also helps countries that do not have democracy to
fight against violence in their regions, helping them with humanitarian aid in times
of emergencies such as earthquakes, wars, flooding and other situations.

The Cooperatives in Italy – Best social practice of local parishes of the

Catholic Church in Italy

According to the Italian Civil Code, a co-operative is a company whose

members, having common needs, freely decide to create and manage an enterprise
with the goal of satisfying their needs and making available all the necessary goods
and services. Whilst the ultimate aim of joint-stock companies is the realisation of
profit through the distribution of gains, the aim of the co-operatives consists,
according to the type of co-operative, in securing its members with employment or
consumer goods or services in better terms and conditions to those that they would
obtain from the labour market (mutual aim of the co-operative).
It must be made clear that this difference does not signify that a co-operative can
work at a loss, what is different however is the destination of the enterprises‘
revenue: in the case of joint-stock companies the gains are distributed amongst the
shareholders in relation to the capital shares possessed, the revenues of a
cooperative are, in the majority of cases, reinvested in the development of the same
co-operative and in the strengthening of the co-operative assets. In the case of the
co-operative‘s liquidation its social assets must be donated to the funds belonging to
the co-operative promotion, who will aim to promote the birth and development of
other co-operatives.
Whilst the shareholders of an ordinary enterprise are the real owners of the
company, the members of a co-operative are merely the managers of an asset,
normally strongly tied to a territory, which can be transferred to future generations.
For this reason, cooperatives are enterprises who put people and employment first,
instead of money and capital. In order to form a co-operative a minimum of 3
members are required.
In the Article 45 of the Italian Constitution the following is stated: ―The
Republic recognises the social function of the co-operative with mutual character
and without scope of private speculation‖.
The co-operative system is based on the values of mutuality, solidarity and
democracy.

The value of mutuality

Co-operatives are characterised first and foremost by the value of mutuality.
Mutuality derives from the assistance which the members of a co-operative
interchangeably strive to provide to one another, through voluntary collaboration, in
order to achieve the aims for which the co-operative was originally founded. For this
reason the members all have equal rights and equal duties. In the Italian

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Legislation the co-operative‘s mutuality is linked to the absence of any scope of
private speculation. This allows common interests to prevail, rather than egoistic
ones.

The value of solidarity

The co-operative is an enterprise which, as well as having to compete on the
market, tries to accomplish some important values of solidarity amongst its own
members. For this reason the co-operative must put people, their employment and
their needs first.
This centrality of putting people first is one of the most important advantages of
such a co-operation. One of the reasons for which subjects adhere to such a co-
operative is the possibility it offers to obtain mutual advantages that extend beyond
mere profit. Nevertheless we do not wish to exclude the importance of economic
gains because it is legitimate to strive for economic advantages as long as this
derives from the legitimate application of the market law. Limiting the
compensation of investment capital comes as a consequence of the co-operatives‘
nature and social function: achieving the ends of the co-operative has greater
importance in comparison to the ordination of money.

The value of democracy

As opposed to joint-stock companies, co-operatives follow the principal of
democracy: each member has only one vote which does not rely on the number of
capital shares which he/she possesses. Each member enjoys an equal level of
decisional power and he/she shares equal rights and obligations with the other
members. The fact that these co-operatives are organised democratically also implies
that they must also be administered by people who have been selected and
nominated according to the procedures set out by the members; these people being
directly responsible to the members. This value of democracy also highlights the
importance of effective judgement when it comes down to deciding whether to accept
or reject new members; without making it necessary to modify the co-operative‘s
memorandum should it accept new members.

The main types of co-operative are:

 A consumer co-operative where the goods are bought in bulk at an inferior
price and then re-sold to the members at advantageous prices.
 A credit co-operative which provides its members with credit at a rate which
would not easily be obtained from standard banks.
 An agricultural co-operative has the aim of cultivating, processing and
distributing agricultural products.
 A construction co-operative has the aim of constructing accommodation and
buildings for its members.
 A business and employment co-operative has the aim of providing
employment for its members under the best possible conditions.
When it comes down to the co-operative movement, social co-operatives are of
particular importance, these being a particular type of employment co-operative.
The co-operatives founded by members of different parishes are all social co-
operatives.
Social co-operatives have the goal of pursuing the community‘s general interest

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for human promotion and social integration of citizens.
What forms the backbone to this type of organisation is the conviction that it‘s
possible to pursue the community‘s general interest via a certain type of economic
association, combining private interest with general interest. With the introduction
of this legal entity model that is consistent with the social enterprise and which is
also applied to social co-operatives, the concept of entrepreneurship is no longer
synonymous with that of economic activity, which regards economic gain/profit as its
final goal.
Social co-operatives operate according to different procedures to whom two
different types of co-operative correspond: 1) ‘Type A‘ social co-operatives: can solely
manage social, health and educational services; 2) ‘Type B‘ social co-operatives: can
carry out a variety of activities (agricultural, industrial, commercial, service related)
with the aim of integrating disadvantaged people into the world of work.
Disadvantaged people in this case includes the physically and mentally disabled,
former patients of psychiatric institutes or those patients currently in psychiatric
treatment, drug addicts, alcohol addicts, minors of working-age with difficult family
circumstances, those convicted to alternative methods of detention, the unemployed
and those with serious difficulties who are being supported by public Social Services.
In addition to these ‗Type A‘ and ‗Type B‘ co-operatives are the co-operatives of
Mixed Type that carry out activities typical of both the ‗Type A‘ and ‗Type B‘ co-
operatives and finally the social consortiums; at least 70% of the social base of this
type of umbrella co-operative (consortium) has been formed by social co-operatives.
Social co-operatives are regarded de jure as co-operatives with a prevalent mutuality
and as non-profit organisations with a social function (ONLUS) and therefore they
enjoy various forms of fiscal benefits both in terms of direct tax on the income
produced by the co-operative as well as the application of indirect tax, such as VAT.
In addition, they qualify for the possibility of receiving financial aids such as the
granting of a contribution at a rate of 5 per 1000 on behalf of the taxpayers at the
time of declaration of income.
There are 7.363 social co-operatives in Italy: 4.345 ‗Type A‘, 2.419 ‗Type B‘,
315 of ‗Mixed Type‘ (A+B) and finally 284 consortiums (Istat, survey on social co-
operatives, 2006).
In Italy social co-operatives represent an important reality both in terms of
the employment profile and in terms of the allocation of services, with a growth of
over 30% in comparison to 2001. Overall these enterprises employ over 210.000 paid
staff and 32.000 volunteers. In addition, they make their services available to over 3
million people with a turnover rate equal to 6.4 billion Euros. The birth of these
social co-operatives began in some areas of Northern Italy during the second half of
the 70s and since then they have progressively spread across all of the National
territory. The development of this particular form of enterprise is linked to multiple
factors. On the one hand Local Authorities hand out, through a public procurement
system, a certain number of social, health and educational services to these social co-
operatives. On the other hand however there are civil societies who auto organise
themselves (with the help of citizens, informal groups, associations etc) to promote
the birth of social co-operatives in order to respond to unsatisfied needs or to
innovate the offer of welfare services.
Example for good social practice is the social cooperative ―Sammartini‖ that
has been operating since September 1990 in the town of Crevalcore. It was created
within the aim to pursue human development and social integration of

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disadvantaged people because of psycho-physical handicaps or other reasons, by
carrying out different activities (industrial, commercial and services). Everyone in
the territory knows the activities that take place there. Anyone is welcomed and
should get involved with voluntary work in a joyful environment, which provides
valuable opportunities for encounters and relationships.
The Sammartini Cooperative has never received public subsidies, and has
always sustained itself as a result of their work.
The Sammartini Cooperative is a NPO (Non profit organization of social
utility), so it can receive donations which confer the right for tax benefits for
donators. The cooperative may also be aided by donation of 5 for thousand at the
time of the tax return.
The Sammartini Cooperative works in collaboration with the Health
Authority (USL-North Bologna), municipalities of Crevalcore and Bologna involved
in the social field.
The cooperative aids the individual according to the following basic principles:
 Stimulate individual and abilities;
 Create a workplace which can enhance the resource of all;
 Accept the challenge of being really productive, efficient and competitive,
thanks to activities of persons generally ―not accepted‖ by the working world;
 Being an active presence in the area, offering answers to social emergencies
involving the weaker elements of society;
 Promote access to the labour market through the acquisition of skills,
professionalism and self-esteem;
To achieve these goals, management decisions are not satisfied to reach a
balance sheet profit (which has never missed), but they pursue another advantage of
fundamental importance: the human and social promotion of those who work there,
especially the disadvantaged people.
The Sammartini Cooperative is engaged daily in the following:
1) Full-time operators. The worker members of the cooperative (the cooperative
employees) are involved in the performance of the work, bearing in mind that
the good of every person is more important than profit;
2) Work scholarships, sustained by various institutions. The scholarships
provide free employment to disadvantaged workers working for the
cooperative, with insurance coverage, which receive a fee for their work and
an insurance coverage. All projects are achieved through free grants. In the
Sammartini laboratory are presented people with psychological disabilities.
Other people in financial need are sent by the Municipality of Crevalcore. In
all fifteen people are involved. In the Bologna laboratory, at the Parish of
Dozza, are presented working people with various difficulties sent by Caritas
of Bologna (with a variable presence of 3, 4 people each month). Agreements
have been made with the Municipality of Bologna to include prison inmates
in work project where they can work in semi-freedom.
3) Volunteers workers. The participation of volunteers enrolled as volunteers
members is valuable both as an aid in the work and as an instrument for the
social integration of people.
Since May 2010, the cooperative has transferred its activities to new
headquarters, near the Church of Sammartini, in a new purpose facility. The
construction was also achieved through loans made by the shareholders.

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 The new place of work provides more comfortable working environment in
compliance with safety standards. In recent years there have been significant
investments in new equipment. The new structure gives the possibility to expand
the supply of goods, making it more responsive to the market demands and to better
meet the social mission of the cooperative. Another laboratory site exists in the
Dozza Parish, in the suburb of Bologna, that has been active for 6 years.
The quality of work done in the laboratories was appreciated by local
companies, which rely on the cooperative some of the jobs which they do not produce
by them.
Work activities are: Windows signs, wires, envelopes, packaging, samples,
display cases, boxes, bonding, final packaging, and special containers, shrink.
In the electrical-electronic filed, the following services are performed: cabling,
application of terminals and various type connectors, multicore cables (cutting,
testing and connector applications), flat cable insulation, piercing connectors,
assembly of electronic circuit boards and their testing.

Caritas of Reggio Emilia – Guastalla – An example for best social practice of

the Catholic Church in Italy

Caritas in Italy is the pastoral organisation of the Italian Roman Catholic

Episcopal Conference for the promotion of charity. It was born in 1971, at the behest
of Pope Paul VI, in the spirit of renewal initiated by the Second Vatican Council.
Caritas of Reggio Emilia - Guastalla is one of the 220 Caritas established in
Italy at diocesan level. The organisation set up by the Bishop of Reggio Emilia -
Guastalla to promote - in cooperation with other institutions at local level - the
witness of charity of the ecclesial community including the parishes of the Diocese,
paying particular attention to the pedagogical approach of each activity promoted.
Article 1 of the Statute of Caritas defines that it has a ―prevailing pedagogical
(educational) function‖.
Caritas of Reggio Emilia - Guastalla is the official instrument of the Diocese
for the promotion and coordination of charitable and welfare initiatives of the local
church.

The tasks of Caritas:

 to promote charity and to translate it into concrete actions;
 to ensure proper coordination of initiatives and services of Christian
inspiration;
 to start, organize and coordinate emergency operations in Italy and abroad.
In collaboration with other bodies of Christian inspiration:
 to carry out studies and research on the needs and their causes;
 to promote volunteering and encourage the training of pastoral agents of
charity and of Christians engaged in social services;
 to contribute to human and social development of the countries of the South
of the World through public awareness.
Solidarity, peace education and global issues, dialogue, shared responsibility
international emergency operations are the main lines of the commitments of
Caritas in Italy and all over the world. Permanent connections with other national
Caritas are guaranteed by the Caritas Internationals‘ network. It gathers in a

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federation 162 organizations of which 48 belongs to Caritas Europe too.

Promotion and training:

The main activity is the listening and the dialogue with the parishes of the
Diocese in which operates a ―Caritas-type‖ activity (parish Caritas) and a
counselling centre (―Centres of Listening‖), supporting and accompanying them and
forming with them a network at local level.
The ―Centre of Listening‖ of Caritas is a place where the people of the area
who are in difficulty or in needs are welcomed and listened. The Church entrusts to
this kind of Centres the task of being among the poor, knowing their problems and
sharing their paths. After an initial interview to get acquainted, Caritas starts to
build, together with the person in need, a project that has as its ultimate goal the
independence thereof. In doing so, a series of intermediate steps are plotted which
include the material support if necessary, but also the incentive to seek within
themselves the necessary resources. In this sense, the function of the staff and
volunteers at the ―Centre of Listening‖ is to accompany the person in this journey.
Caritas of Reggio Emilia – Guastalla organizes training courses for aspiring
volunteers of the ―Centres of Listening‖ and counselling. It also promotes
personalized pathways for the various parish Caritas and the ―Centres of listening‖.
Caritas of Reggio Emilia - Guastalla considers fundamental the mystery of
the Cross and our being Christians. Vital are thus the moments of meditation,
prayer and reflection guided by the Word of God. Every year it is proposed to the
parish Caritas and to the territorial ―Centres of listening‖ a two-day retreat in the
spring.
Caritas of Reggio Emilia - Guastalla, through the listening of the needs that
emerge from the territory, has become a reference point for poor and marginalized
people support them and put them in touch with the network of public and private
organizations working in the field of social assistance. From this fruitful co-
operation a number of projects and activities provide an important service for those
in need.
Caritas of Reggio Emilia - Guastalla offers moreover training events,
entertainment, documentation and subsidies. A number of public meetings and
events on various subject are organised by Caritas or participated by its
representatives every year.
For instance, the ―Caravan of Charity‖ is one of the tools at the disposal of all
the parishes of the Diocese for a week of events in each parish that could lead to
reflect on the meaning of charity. A caravan, equipped by Caritas, is the visible
symbol of that week, it is usually placed outside the church or in the village square
and the parish community organizes debate and events around it, with a ―bottom-
up‖ approach involving various stakeholders of the parish with the ―motto‖: ―let your
love circulate with the caravan of love‖ (awareness rising campaign).
Caritas of Reggio Emilia - Guastalla, at the behest of the Bishop asks to all parishes
in the Diocese to dedicate the third Sunday of Advent to the theme of charity and
donate all the donations collected during the Masses at the diocesan Caritas, to
support its social works.

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 Charitable deeds:

The Outpatient Clinic ―Oaks of Mamre‖ was born with the purpose to offer a
necessary and important service, such as the medical care to the poorest people.
The Clinic operates under an agreement with the Local Health Authority of
Reggio Emilia and the whole activity of visits and medical and nursing services is
covered by about 80 volunteer doctors (and specialists) and a dozen of nurses. The
presence, in turns, allows doctors to cover almost all the medical specialties
(including dental surgery).
The service was established to give an answer to the Reggio Emilia health
emergency of illegal immigrants who do not have access to the National Health
Service but who are entitled to receive emergency medical care.
Caritas of Reggio Emilia - Guastalla runs a dormitory with 12 beds for men
living in temporary difficulty. The structure provides the opportunity to host for two
months Italian and foreign (EU and non-EU) men, homeless or with housing
problems. Requests for acceptance must be submitted to the ―Centre of Listening‖
which will handle the selection of applicants. The goal is, through acceptance,
listening and networking, to guide and accompany people looking for a stable
situation. The evening reception is guaranteed by the presence of volunteers,
students and young people in their civil service period, coordinated by the ―Centre of
Listening‖ staff.
In the winter months from December 1st to March 31st, Caritas coordinates an
extra activity called Warm Winter offering hospitality to people in need in the spaces
provided by individuals and parishes. The project, active since 2002, is run in
collaboration with the Municipality of Reggio Emilia, the Local Health Authority
and Hospital.
Every Sunday including bank holidays, Caritas of Reggio Emilia – Guastalla
conducts a canteen service, with the turnover of many parishes (more than 100
parishes are those who have done the service at least once), various church groups
and school classes.
In recent years, the canteen has continuously increased the number of meals
prepared and served (up to 500 per day) and Caritas opened a new premises
functioning during the week as well as a cafeteria also opened every Saturday and
every day during the three summer months.
All those activities are possible with the "only" commitment of the volunteers.
The many costs of running the canteen are supported by Caritas which relies on
donations of food, a small contribution from the Municipality of Reggio Emilia and
some private offers.
Caritas continues to believe in the extraordinary pedagogical value of the
service in the canteen offered by the very many communities and groups; the
encounter with the other, the service to the poorest, mean that everyone backs
homes with an open heart and with the awareness that he had received more than
he tried to give.
NuovaMente is a large space in which Caritas of Reggio Emilia – Guastalla
collects and make available free of charge furniture, appliances, kitchenware, books,
toys, clothes, accessories bicycles, mattresses, various objects. The staff and the
volunteers recover, adjust and regenerate what they get and what someone else
throw away, trying to give a new life to things and to sell them. It is a huge flea
market, in which everyone can access and where one can find many interesting and

75
beautiful objects at an affordable price for all. The poor and marginalized are at the
heart of the project. The purpose is to make available to everyone, from the poorest
to the richest, the necessary and also the superfluous, asking for a small amount of
money, while maintaining the full gratuity for those who just can not pay anything.
In addition, NuovaMente will try to build pathways out of exclusion, giving dignity
to people in need offering them a job; this means also to give them room to learn
about trade and to exploit their skills in a familiar and welcoming context.
The project has among other objectives the one to change our way of life: to save
money, not throw away, retrieve, repair are the ideas that remind us the need to
adopt a simplest and essential lifestyle, as well as more ―solidarity‖ with the poor.
The donation of what no longer serves us, but that can still be used by others, recalls
to the fundamental value of mutual assistance and sharing.

Vasiliada Association – an example for best social practice of the Romanian

Orthodox Church

Vasiliada Association is a non-government Christian and social organization, a non-

profit entity, founded under the spiritual patronage of the Metropolitan of Oltenia. The
Archbishop of Craiova and Metropolitan of Oltenia is the Association‘s honorary chairman.
Vasiliada Association is an active member of the local community in the field of social
work, and of various regional and national organisations working in that field, such as: the
Regional Commission for Fighting Poverty and Promoting Social Inclusion, the South-
Western Oltenia Territorial Pact for Employment and Social Inclusion etc.
The organisation‘s objective, according to its Statute, is to support individuals in
need and ensure observance of people‘s basic human rights, especially of disadvantaged
populations.
The organisation‘s mission is to provide social services to individuals, families,
social groups and communities in need and distress or in situations generating
marginalisation/ social exclusion, founded on love for our fellow human beings.
Values: faith, love, integrity, solidarity, involvement, assessment, responsibility
and professionalism.

The objectives set by the organisation in terms of its social welfare work are as follows:

1 Provision of primary and specialised social services, provision of medical and social
care as well as educational services in compliance with the applicable laws and
regulations;
2 Valisiada Association provides information and consulting on social and
professional integration and reintegration as well as mediation in the social and
professional field;
3 Creating and maintaining supporting networks on the municipal level for
individuals and populations in need;
4 Cooperation and building partnerships with decentralised public offices of
ministries, organisations within the central and local public administration and
other government or private institutions active in the field;
5 Informing the public opinion on social welfare matters in order to educate and raise
awareness by organizing conferences, seminars, round tables, discussions, etc.;
making publications (magazines, brochures, leaflets), audio-visual materials,
materials in electronic format; organising advertising campaigns to get society

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 involved in solving social problems;
6 Active participation in elaboration and enforcement of social policies, strategies and
action plans on the national, regional and local levels;
7 Conducting surveys and studies concerning various social problems and
phenomena;
8 Recruitment and placement of personnel, provision of professional training.
9 Incorporation and functioning of private educational entities, educational service
providers, of various types, levels and organisational forms of education and
professional training.

VASILIADA ASSOCIATION‘S WORK

SUPPORT PROGRAMME FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

―Wings of Light‖ children‘s centre, Craiova

―Wings of Light‖ playroom, Craiova

―St. Basil the Great‖ social centre for children and adolescents, Targu Jiu,
managed by Vasiliada Association, Targu Jiu branch

―St. Stilian" social centre, Lipovu

Day care centre, Filiasi

―Wings of Light‖ children‘s centre in Craiova was established in 2005 with the
purpose of providing social and educational services to children from Craiova in need.
Prior to 2009, the centre was funded by ―Children in Distress‖, a British foundation. The
centre's beneficiaries are children between the ages of 7 and 14 from the following social
categories: Roma children and children whose parents are unemployed or employed
abroad; children left to the care of their grandparents or other relatives; children from
single-parent households or from multi-child families and very poor families.
Activities run by the centre: educational support (lessons in Romanian, English,
mathematics), development of life skills through games, work therapy, psychological
consulting, social consultancy and mediation services for parents, monitoring and
assessment of results, provision of one meal a day (a cold dish).
―Wings of Light‖ playroom was set up and equipped by Vasiliada Association in
pediatric oncology division in the regional hospital for emergency care in Craiova. In the
playroom, under the guidance of an instructor, sick children can engage in various
activities, such as work therapy to help develop practical life skills and interpersonal
relationships, they can use their spare time to socialise and receive specialised
psychological consulting.
―St. Basil the Great‖ children‘s centre in Targu Jiu was founded in 2008 by
Vasiliada Association, Targu Jiu branch, as part of the ―Invest in My Education‖ project
funded by the United States of America‘s embassy in Bucharest. The centre is targeted at
children from disadvantaged families.
The centre offers the following activities: activities to help develop practical life

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skills in children: art therapy (therapy through music, collage, sculpture, painting,
sketching, and theatre), learning through adventure and work therapy; remedial classes
with school material.
The ―St. Stylianos‖ children‘s centre in Lipovu was founded by Vasiliada
Association, with funding provided by the Phare Programme, in 2003. The centre is
intended for children between the ages of 6 and 15 from disadvantaged families who have
been exposed to marginalisation. The centre offers the following activities and services:
material aid services, psychological and social consulting, literacy and educational support
services for illiterate children and youths or children and youths at risk for leaving school
early, informal learning, tutoring, and work therapy.
The Filiasi Day care Centre was launched in late 2012 and is the newest
establishment of Vasiliada Association. Its beneficiaries are children from disadvantaged
families. The centre offers the following activities and services: remedial education,
development of life skills through alternative therapies, work therapy, social consulting for
the children‘s families.

CRISIS INTERVENTION PROGRAMME

―St. Basil‖ Emergency Social Centre for Homeless People, Craiova

Centre for Social Inclusion, Craiova

The ―St. Basil‖ Emergency Social Centre for Homeless People was founded by
Vasiliada Association with the assistance of the ―Establishing Emergency Social Centres
for Fighting Social Exclusion among the Homeless – 2006‖ National Programme and the
support of the Craiova Municipal Council and the Craiova Archdiocese, as a partner. The
centre is targeted at: persons without a home or living on the street who are in a state of
mental, social, legal or medical crisis or in a crisis state related to an interpersonal
relationship, a situation borne out of lack of shelter or inability to find shelter.
The activities and services offered by the centre are: social consulting for better
social integration (psychological, professional and family integration), spiritual consulting,
and organising activities to help develop methods for finding employment, health
education, information about certain rights and obligations, information about other types
of social services.

Centre for Social Inclusion, Craiova

Between 2010 and 2013 Vasiliada Association was running three centres for social
inclusion co-funded by the European Social Fund through the 2007–2013 ―Human
Resource Development‖ Operational Programme whose main objective was to provide
vocational education to vulnerable persons: Centre for Social Inclusion, Craiova, and
Integrated Employment Services Centre, Dolj and Gorj. Throughout the projects‘ run,
approximately 1000 people benefited from the centres‘ services, namely:
1 Consulting and professional orientation;
2 Psychological consulting;
3 Continuous and intensive professional qualification courses;
4 Companion services for people with disabilities or members of their families;
5 Companion and chaperoning services for children and the elderly.

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 In 2008 Vasiliada Association founded the Office for Promoting the Psychological and
Social Development of Children with Hearing Impairment from Craiova, with the
following objectives:
1 Developing the life skills of children with hearing impairment;
2 Developing their thinking, imagination and creativity;
3 Instilling and reinforcing values and attitudes and fostering psychological and
social skills;
4 Building teamwork skills;
5 Developing their sense of responsibility.

PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES SUPPORT PROGRAMME

―St. Catherine‖ Information and Consulting Centre for People with Disabilities

The programme for assisting people with disabilities is run in an information and
consulting centre designed to address the needs of this social group: the ―St. Catherine‖
centre founded in 2007 in to help facilitate the social and economic integration of people
with disabilities.
The beneficiaries of the centre are people with disabilities of 18 years of age from
the region of Dolj: people with physical, mental, hearing and neurological disabilities.
The activities and services offered at the centre include: providing information
services with regard to legislation and the labour market, organising education seminars
and providing social mediation for job placement, spiritual consulting, participation in
socialising and pastime activities.
One of the most important activities offered by the centre is work therapy, since
participation in the work therapy workshops and the artistic activities they offer (painting,
clay modelling, knitting martenitsi, bracelets and necklaces, making decorative candles,
painting icons, learning stagecraft and interpreting theatre plays) allows the beneficiaries
to enhance their artistic abilities and improve their motor and memory skills.

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 2. SOCIAL WORK FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS IN THE
NETHERLANDS

Albert Adrian Stanulica

This report provides an integrated overview of the Dutch case-studies

conducted within this project exploring faith-based activities in Tilburg, Rotterdam
and Amsterdam end this report offers deeper insight on FBOs operating at the local
level in the framework of the national context.

The research aims to answer the following questions

1. What social services do FBOs provide and how can they be positioned
within (or outside) the changing Dutch welfare state?
2. What is the social and religious geography of the cities we investigated
and what are the geographies of FBOs in these cities?
3. What is the (changing) role of faith in (the social activities of) FBOs?
4. What relations do FBOs develop with other FBOs and NGOs, and
why?
5. What relationship do FBOs develop with local government, and why?
6. What are the main future challenges and threats for FBO action in
cities?

DEFINITIONS

Faith-based organisations
In this report we argue that there are essential nuances of conceptualization
and definition in the analysis of FBOs that require sensitivity at the outset, namely
inherent diversities between denominations, types and remits of FBOs, subtleties in
understanding how scale issues influence the way the urban context in wider city-
regional frameworks impacts on FBOs and social issues and the heuristic value of
ideal-type abstractions while recognizing complexities within any typology and
timeframe. Herewith, it is important to note that FBOs are not just churches or
other official religious institutions per se, but frequently also para-religious
associations that exist as independent legal entities. These can be larger or smaller
organisations, closely aligned to mosques or churches or operating in a ‗stand alone‘
modus. These roles typically refer to a combination of direct action approaches based
on community development, social facilities and service provision, on the one hand,
and lobbying/ political participation activities on the other.
We expect that FBOs are likely to engage in a combination or hybrid of these
roles. It is important to distinguish between faith generally and FBOs in particular.
By faith we typically refer to beliefs and ideas that are unsupported by rational and/
or empirical evidence and are reserved for concepts of religion, spirituality and belief
in a transcendent reality (see Harris 2004). Defining an FBO is a contentious issue
and as Clarke (2006) notes in the frame of international development, FBOs are a
complex set of actors that remain inadequately understood. There are, for examples
differences between more traditional and evangelistic FBOs and between FBOs
strictly working for their own community and FBOs as umbrella organisations for
faith-motivated and secular people within a post secular context.

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 It is vital to differentiate in this way and stress the inherent political and
ideological variety of FBOs so that our research can avoid misrepresentation as a
legitimizing and constitutive element of what Jamie Peck (2006) calls the ‗New
Urban Right‘. Rather, the aim is to couch the rich diversity of FBOs in cities as
simultaneously part and parcel of neoliberal cities and inherent sites of resistance
and contestation.

The definition of an FBO we favour is:

Any organisation that refers directly or indirectly to religion or religious

values, and that functions as a welfare provider and/or as a political actor.
While there are other possible definitions our approach is sufficiently broad to
contribute to contemporary research on FBOs and to help sharpen new definitions
and understandings in the European context. Writing from an explicitly US
perspective, Cnaan et al (1999) point to six categories of religious service
organizations:
1. local congregations (or houses of worship);
2. interfaith agencies and ecumenical coalitions;
3. citywide or region-wide sectarian agencies;
4. national projects and organizations under religious auspices;
5. para-denominational advocacy and relief organizations; and
6. religiously affiliated international organizations.
Similarly in the US, for Wuthnow (2000): ―[A]t a minimum, FBOs must be
connected with an organized faith community. These connections occur when an
FBO is based on a particular religious ideology and draws staff, volunteers, or
leadership from a particular religious group. Other characteristics that qualify an
organization as ‗faith-based‘ are religiously oriented mission statements, the receipt
of substantial support from a religious organization, or the initiation by a religious
institution‖. Our approach pays respect to these and other US concepts while
following a new European orientation.

Social exclusion
We use ‗social exclusion‘ as a generic concept that refers to various situations
and processes such as polarisation, discrimination, poverty and inaccessibility.
Social exclusion implies two conditions: a hierarchical relationship between
individuals, positions or groups and a separation by clearly discernible fault lines.
Certain fault lines are the result of collective intervention (e.g. subsistence income or
institutional isolation), while others occur without any explicit and deliberate
intervention on the part of social actors. These instances of exclusion concern
various areas of social and individual life – like income, housing, education or social
relations - and they can manifest themselves in specific ways in each of these areas.

METHODS
To produce this report we have confined ourselves to organisations that
directly or indirectly refer to one of the monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity
and Islam) or religious values and function as welfare provider and/or political actor.
Furthermore we have focused on those organisations that are active in combating
social exclusion and therefore excluded FBOs that primarily operate in the
international arena (on issues such as development cooperation, emergency relief,

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conflict resolution etc.). We therefore have also avoided FBOs in other domestic
policy areas such as faith-based school board associations, broadcasting services,
trade unions and elderly and youth organisations.
To identify the most important FBOs involved in combating social exclusion
on the national level we have made use of various data collection methods, including
literature, policy documents, newspaper articles, website research, consultation with
experts.
After studying the national context and mapping FBO activity at the national
level, we examined faith-based practices and social exclusion at the local level. We
included the largest cities, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, in our survey. Both cities
show a huge diversity in terms of religious composition of the population and both
face serious challenges in the social domain. Especially Rotterdam scored negative
on diverse aspects of social exclusion over the last decades. Tilburg, finally, was
chosen because of its Catholic background and its position outside the main urban
agglomeration of the Netherlands.

RELIGIOUS CONTEXT
Anyone exploring the range of FBOs and their relations to the Dutch welfare
state and questions of governance has to be aware of the basic developments in
Dutch religious history and changes in state-religion relations.
Milestones in Dutch religion history
Van Eijnatten and Van Lieburg (2005) distinguish several milestones in
Dutch religious history, in terms of the role of religion in the public domain. The
first is around the year 1000, when Christianity (Roman Catholicism) settled in the
territory, formerly consisting merely of local forms of religiosity. Some 600 years
later, the reformation brought Protestant traditions to the territory, and one of
them, Calvinism, would be connected to the Revolt against the Catholic Spanish
King, which led to the establishment of the Dutch state. The second milestone,
according to the authors, therefore takes place around 1580, when Calvinism
becomes linked to the political elite of the Republic of the United Provinces (1648–
1795). Some 250 years later, the Batavian Revolution would make the Calvinists
lose their privileged position. The year 1848 is marked as a third milestone, when a
new constitution would guarantee the freedom of religion and also marked the
beginning of the separation of church and state.
Knippenberg (2006), who gives a comprehensive overview of the development
of Dutch church-state relations since the foundation of Republic, adds more recent
milestones in Dutch religious history. The first is pillarisation, also known as
verzuiling, which refers to the group formation of orthodox Protestants, Roman
Catholics, socialists and to a lesser extent Liberals. The institutionalization of the
freedom of religion and education in the new constitution of 1848 gave rise to a
struggle for equal treatment (in terms of public funding) of neutral and faith-based
schools. This turned out to be a forerunner of a struggle for full political rights of
Protestants and Catholics respectively. In 1917, also known as the year of
Pacification, two main conflicts were settled: the school dispute and the struggle for
universal suffrage.6 This encouraged institutionalisation along religious and
ideological lines in other sectors of society (including health care and housing) and
strengthened the pillarisation of Dutch society. It was also the start of what Lijphart
(1975) has called ‗consociational democracy‘ that institutionalised religious and

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ideological diversity in the political system. Within this system the confessional
‗pillars‘ developed into strong bulwarks of organisations and subcultures.
The next watershed takes place in the 1960s, when increasing prosperity,
higher levels of education, and growing mobility gave rise to fast secularization, both
in terms of declining beliefs and practices, as in terms of the weakening of the
authority of the faith-based ‗pillars‘. Within Western Europe, the Netherlands is
among those countries with the steepest decline in church attendance and levels of
belief in God in the last 50 years. The care and social welfare sectors
professionalized and were transformed into neutral organisations, by way of large
amounts of state subsidization. The new constitution of 1983 reflects the fact that
the Netherlands had become a secularized country. It has limited financial relations
between the state and churches, and no longer distinguishes between religious and
non-religious beliefs.
Some scholars are, however, critical about secularization understood as a
linear process of decline of religion and rather speak of the transformation of
religion. Kennedy for example distinguishes three periods in post war Dutch
religious history:
1. the high tide of the religious subcultures, 1945-1965,
2. the transformation of religion into an ethics of engagement (1965-1985);
and
3. a return to ‗the spiritual‘ (1985 to the present).
The last period mainly reflects the growth of Evangelicalism and new forms of
spirituality.
As can be seen in table 1 and 2, declining membership of traditional churches and a
diversification of the religious landscape is the latest trend in Dutch religious
history.

VOLUNTEERING
For a long time the common opinion was that volunteering ‗escaped‘ the
negative consequences of individualization and secularization. Indeed the
Netherlands has relatively high numbers of volunteers in comparison to other
countries. The two largest denominations (the Catholic church and the Protestant
church) build on 3,500 priests, pastors and deacons, 800 pastoral workers and
545,000 volunteers. But as church attendees are more likely to be involved in
voluntary work, a decline in church membership and attendance is expected to
result in a decline of volunteers. This is not always the case, as demonstrated by the
increase of volunteers in Catholic churches. While the number of priests declined by
54 per cent in the past 25 years, the number of volunteers and pastoral workers
increased with 19 per cent and 164 per cent respectively. According to De Hart and
Dekker this has transformed it from a church into a volunteers organisation.
The experts are sceptical about the possibility of new Evangelical and
Pentecostal religious movements to compensate the loss of volunteers within the
traditional churches (that face both ‗de-churching‘ and aging). The main reasons are
that these movements recruit members mainly from (orthodox) Protestant circles
and are associated mainly with ‗bonding‘ and not ‗bridging‘ social capital. The
experts are more positive about the role of migrant churches in the participation
and integration of migrants.

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 General overview of National Faith-Based Organisations
In this chapter we present an overview of Dutch FBOs that are active in
combating social exclusion in the Netherlands and that are represented at the
national level.
Diaconal bodies of established Dutch churches/denominations
This category includes the diaconal organisations closely connected to the
established churches and denominations in the Netherlands.
Traditionally diaconia consisted of material assistance to the poor, orphans,
widows and elderly within the respective Catholic or Protestant pillars. With the
emergence of the welfare state a major share of the activities of the traditional
churches were taken over by the state. The church-controlled organisations
themselves disappeared or continued to function on a less visible and much smaller
scale.
With the state taking care of the most important social rights at home, the
diaconal work at the national level of the Protestant and Catholic churches became
largely aimed at global injustices, such as global poverty reduction, emergency relief
and sustainable development. At the same time new attention was paid to ‗new‘
marginals at home (such as people with debts, people without access to the welfare
state, undocumented people or asylum seekers) and/or people with social problems
beyond the scope of the mainstream welfare state (such as homeless people, drug
addicts, and prostitutes).
The national diaconal body of the Protestant church, for example, supports local
diaconal projects (such as walk-in centres and projects for the homeless or refugees)
and translates signals from local churches into national projects and lobbying
activities.
The Catholic churches do not have a similar national counterpart. Support
from the dioceses for diaconal work by the local parishes is weak. The mid-level
deaneries, responsible for the support of volunteers in the parishes, have been
largely dissolved in recent years. However, several interlinked networks of
professionals and volunteers with a clear Catholic profile are still active. With
support of Catholic funds, religious orders and funding by local authorities and in
some cases provinces, they maintain a certain level of activity and launch new
initiatives, too.
We provide here some examples of FBOs that fall within the scope of this
category:
1. Protestant church in the Netherlands (PKN);
2. Church in Action, national missionary and diaconal body at home and
abroad;
3. Roman Catholic church in the Netherlands;
4. Diaconal Alliance;
5. Episcopal Committee Justitia et Pax Netherlands;
6. National diaconal body;
7. Conference of Dutch religious orders;
8. Network of Religions for Refugees;
9. Religious against Women Trafficking Foundation;
10. Jewish Social work.

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 Ecumenical platforms and networks
In this category we can distinguish between two subtypes: ecumenical
platforms with a strong national coordination (‗top-down‘) and rather loose networks
with a limited national presence and with small-scale local initiatives as the
constitutive elements (‗bottom-up‘).

National platforms and networks

The group includes ecumenical organisations that emerged from cooperation
among established churches after the Second World War. The engagement of
church-goers in social and political issues stimulated ecumenical cooperation, and
reflects what Kennedy (2005) calls the transformation of religion into an ‗ethics of
engagement‘. During the Cold War years many church affiliated people joined the
peace movement and demonstrated against nuclear weapons. But also issues like
unemployment, poverty and gender inequality mobilized them into action. One
example of an FBO that stems from ecumenical cooperation between Protestant and
Catholic churches is the Church Service in Industrial Society (DISK), which started
in 1972, and was originally aimed at pastoral care for (industrial) workers. During
the 1980s the organisation became more involved in working with welfare recipients,
female dependents on welfare and disabled people. In the 1990s the bureau
increased its political lobby activities and became involved in national discussion on
social economic issues. Other examples are the ecumenical platforms of the Council
of Churches: the Poor Side of the Netherlands/EVA and the working group on
Refugees, and the INLIA foundation, which supports and represents a network of
churches providing assistance and care for asylum seekers in distress.
All these ecumenical platforms are engaged in capacity building on the one
hand (finding resources, networking, informing their rank and file on recent
developments in poverty and asylum policies), while at the same time taking a
political stand on these issues. A very different example of an ecumenical network is
the Evangelical Alliance (EA). Its roots are partly in the traditional Dutch churches
and partly in new evangelical churches and communities that developed slowly but
steadily since the 1960s and 1970s, like Pentecostal churches and Baptist churches
‗American Style‘. The EA was founded in 1979 and unites some 100 organisations
(including the influential and large Evangelical broadcast society), 6 denominations
and 250 local churches. Although the alliance is mainly aimed at creating Christian
unity and mission work, it also supports diaconal projects and has several member
organisations actively involved in providing social services, such as Youth for Christ,
Help in Practice (HiP), Present and many local organisations.
Evangelical churches and organisations in general put more emphasis on
their faith-based identity than the traditional Dutch churches and ‗the force of
prayer‘ is an integrated part of their social activities. Most of these have clear
missionary goals. In the day to day diaconal work, however, ‗making converts‘ is only
an exception to the rule, according to both the representatives of the EA, its
members and their non-evangelical partners in the local work. Although the Council
of Churches (representing the traditional Dutch churches) and the Evangelical
Alliance are traditional ‗rivals‘, there is recently more cooperation, for instance by
co-organizing a national expert meeting on how churches can help people with debt
problems.

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 We provide here an overview of the most important FBOs that fall within the
scope of this category:
1. Council of Churches (Raad van Kerken);
2. The poor side of the Netherlands/ Working group Economy, Women and
Poverty (Arme kant/ EVA);
3. Working Group on Refugees;
4. Church Service in Industrial Society (DISK);
5. INLIA, International Network of Local Initiatives for Asylum Seekers;
6. Evangelical Alliance.

Ecumenical networks of small-scale local initiatives

The main example here is the network DAK (Door Aandacht Kracht,
‗Powered by Attention‘) that unites three former faith-based associations of local
work that provide shelters for the homeless and other easily accessible services for
urban marginals, walk-in ‗neighbourhood houses‘ for isolated, elderly residents and
are engaged in other ‗pastoral care‘ initiatives in neighbourhoods.
The driving forces behind these organisations are often members of
progressive (and sometimes dissenting) strands within Christianity, both in
theological and social dimensions. The rank and file of staff and volunteers
nevertheless tend to mirror Dutch religious pluralism on theological and socio-
political matters. According to the website, there are almost hundred theological and
social welfare professionals and thousands of volunteers for the 180 independent
projects of this network. Another example in this category is the small but active
Emmaus movement that consists of groups of idealist people who work and share
with people in need, in eight working and living groups in the Netherlands.
Important examples of FBOs in this category are:
1. Network DAK (175 walk-in centres and offices);
2. Walk – in centres association, ICB;
3. Network Urban Mission (NUM), professionals and volunteers working in
deprived urban neighbourhoods;
4. National ecumenical network parochial care for drug users (LOND);
5. Emmaus movement.

Independent nationwide Faith-based Organisations

In this case we refer to certain sub-groups. The first group consists of

established faith-based welfare organisations that operate independent from
traditional Dutch churches, often with a mother organisation abroad. The second
group is formed by independent nationwide faith-based organisations focusing on
activation and volunteering.

Independent welfare providers

The organisations in the first subgroup resemble secular organisations in the
Third Sector. Providing services to specific groups is their main task. Although
volunteers are part of the modus operandi, these providers are highly
professionalized and do receive the lion‘s share of their budgets from the state. The
Salvation Army that settled in the Netherlands in 1887, employs over 4,000
professionals and provides (material and immaterial) assistance to the most
vulnerable groups in society, such as households on debts, long-term unemployed

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and disabled, young people and families in need, homeless people, (ex-) drug or
alcoholic addicts, isolated elderly and ex-prisoners. The Vincentius association,
which started in Paris and appeared in the Netherlands in 1846, is also involved in
the provision of material and spiritual assistance to the poor, homeless people and
elderly people. Other organisations are aimed at different target groups, such as
Exodus, which provides assistance to ex-convicts, or The Hope which provides care
to addicts. Still a different example is Youth for Christ, an organisation that employs
some 165 professional workers and many volunteers, and is actively involved in
different kinds of youth work in 20 Dutch cities.
We provide here an overview of some important FBOs that fall within the scope of
this category:
1. Salvation Army Welfare and Health Care Foundation;
2. Youth for Christ, youth work, ‗The Mall‘ (inter-denominational);
3. Exodus housing and work for ex-convicts (mainstream Protestant);
4. The Meeting Foundation, housing and support for homeless, drug addicts and
ex-convicts (supported by orthodox Reformed churches);
5. Timon, youth care, supported housing;
6. The Hope, addiction care (supported by evangelical and orthodox Reformed
churches).

Independent organisations focussing at activation and volunteering

The second subgroup includes organisations aimed at activating
volunteering, especially but not exclusively, by faith adherents. These are
independent social entrepreneurs, but often with close links to certain
denominations and local FBOs or churches and sometimes mosques. The
organisations Actioma (Catholic) and IHSAN (which aims to activate voluntary work
among Muslims) formed together with a humanistic organisation and Protestant
national offices, the cooperative body for societal activation of and on behalf of
denominations (Samenwerkende Organisatie voor Maatschappelijk Activeringswerk
– SOM). Until 2006 they received state funding (Department of Health care, Welfare
and Sports).
The Dutch branch of the Vincentius association is an older example. Its
groups are firmly rooted in local networks and it is often operating on the
background and only working with volunteers. The main difference with other
organisations in this subgroup lies in the fact that it is also operating as a charitable
fund.
Some of the more recently established FBOs in this category, such as
Present, HiP, and Time for Action, often act as a broker between religious volunteers
and needy individuals, and more often than not take the activation of religious
volunteers as a starting point, rather than problems of social exclusion. The goal is
to activate people (young people especially) in new ways to be socially engaged in an
increasingly individualized society. While some organisations, like HiP and Time for
action, aim to match individual supply of volunteers to demands of people in need,
Present has a group approach towards the activation of voluntary work. These
initiatives are often founded and financed by individuals and churches with an
orthodox or evangelical (Protestant) signature, in addition to support from other
Christian funds. Although more conservative denominations tend to dominate here,
through campaigns they reach out to others within churches. Web-based campaigns

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aimed at volunteering and/or raising awareness on issues such as social justice are
also increasingly used by these organisations.
We provide here an overview of FBOs that fall within the scope of this category:
]
1. Vincentius volunteering Society and Fund (originally Catholic, now
Christian);
2. Present Foundation;
3. Help in Practice Foundation (HiP);
4. Time for Action;
5. Islamic Institute for Social Activation Foundation (IHSAN);
6. Actioma, Catholic Institute for societal activation, innovation and
research.

Historical developments of Faith-based Organisations in the context of the

welfare state
One of the main legacies of the period of pillarisation in Dutch history is the
large and diverse non-profit sector, with its many faith-based NGOs, or to be more
precise, those with a Roman Catholic and Protestant background. Catholics and
Protestants – along with socialists and sometimes the less well organised liberals –
had not only their own political parties, labour unions, and newspapers, but also
their own schools, hospitals, housing co-ops, orphanages, and homes for the elderly.
Secularization in the 1960s decreased the power of the pillars, heralding the
beginning of a process of ‗depillarisation‘ and the constitutional separation of church
and state in 1983. While the scope of the welfare state in the 1960s and 1970s
increased considerably, most public services remained in the hands of non-profit
organisations, including FBOs. The government took over the lion‘s share of the
financial responsibilities, and in turn the denominational organisations opened their
doors for the general public, regardless of their beliefs or memberships. As a result
many FBOs transformed from civil society organisations to quasi-governmental
organisations and are characterized by corporatist institutional forms. Others, such
as the Salvation Army, who succeeded to work independently from the state, depend
heavily on state financial support in order to be able to continue their activities.
The Dutch refer to this non-profit sector as societal ‗midfield‘
(maatschappelijk middenveld) or ‗private initiative‘. The precise definitions vary
over time and to the strategic goals of individual organisations and sectors. In recent
years organisations favour to ‗sell‘ themselves either as flexible, responsible (social)
entrepreneurs or genuine civil society organisations or networks, whereas in the
1980s and 1990s it was more reasonable and fashionable for these organisations to
present themselves as vast institutions between state and market. We can identify
four overlapping phases of NGO involvement in the welfare provision in Dutch cities
and neighbourhoods:

1. the diverse pre-history of welfare work (until 1960),

2. the period of welfare megalomania (1960–1980),
3. the decentralisation agenda (1980–2004),
4. culminating in The Social Support Act (2006-).

In the ‗pre history‘ FBOs dominated the scene, accompanied by private

initiatives from other pillars (notably socialist societies and liberal funds). A broad

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range of charities and funds and deacons of local churches took care of ‗dangerous
and pitiful people‘ . The state only played a role in special social security (bijzonder
bijstand), in addition to the general social security (algemene bijstand) provided by
churches. After the Second World War the tables would be turned. From the 1950s
onwards all income support transferred to institutions of the state, and from the
1960s on ‗welzijnswerk‘ (welfare work24 or social work) developed from care and
social relief provided by private initiatives. From its inception, public and private
services worked side by side, but gradually many services and activities were
handed over to neutral organisations or directly to governmental organisations. In
most domains part of the services remained in the hands of private boards.
Now under the Social Support Act (Wmo) (House of Representatives 2004 -
2005), that came into force January 2007, new attempts are undertaken to join up
policies and practices at the local level. This act aims at bringing social and care
services under one system, to be managed by local authorities and largely privatised/
market driven in terms of service delivery. Within the parameters set by the central
government (mainly participation and accountability), municipalities are currently
assuming their responsibilities and finding (new) ways of organizing social and care
services together with local stakeholders. There are opportunities for developing
tailor made approaches, and civil society organisations, including churches and
mosques are asked to act as intermediary organisations between clients and social
service agencies. Of course, in practice, they already played an important role in
helping people to get access to their social and welfare rights; the difference is that
now the responsibility for and provision of most services is transferred to the
municipalities.

On the role of Faith-based Organisations in the local welfare system

The role of private initiatives, among them FBOs, in the social domain
strongly depends on the local needs and on local history of relations with the
government and general institutions. This implies that one can not speak of the role
of FBOs in the Dutch welfare state or in the cities. They are active in different
domains and fulfil different functions for the benefit of various groups.

Activities of Faith-based Organisations: an overview

Thefore we turn to the activities of local FBOs, we present an overview from a
national perspective of activities undertaken in the struggle against social exclusion.

Activities by traditional churches

Some welfare activities of the traditional Protestant and Catholic churches
have remained similar, when compared to the pre welfare state period such as
visiting elderly and ill people in their communities and providing pastoral care.
Churches are also still involved in helping people living at the fringe of society, for
instance by providing services (including food, clothing, shelter and spiritual care) to
homeless people, drug addicts and prostitutes. Different than in the past, these
diaconal services are often no longer directly related to missionary goals and rather
aimed at ‗helping there where is no helper‘. Other activities relate to the new role of
churches in the context of the welfare state, such as helping people to find their
ways in the differentiated web of institutions and regulations. Another task
churches have taken on is to provide a safety net for people excluded from state

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benefits, such as undocumented people and asylum seekers, or for whom these
benefits are insufficient, such as people with large debts.
A survey of 2010 among 1236 Protestant and Catholic churches and
organisations in the Netherlands (Crutzen, 2008) indicates that ¾ of the parish
charity institutions, deacons and other diaconal organisations assist people with
financial problems. While most organisations (83 per cent) provide gifts, half of the
organisations (51 per cent) also give loans. In addition, 53 per cent of the
organisations provide non-financial aid. All churches together spent in 2009 between
€8,130,577 and € 14,662,655 on financial aid. The most important target groups are
single parents with children, jobless, asylum seekers and undocumented people,
elderly, people with psychological problems, and disabled people. Another striking
result is that 50 per cent of the organisations are involved in food delivery (often in
cooperation with so-called food banks, in Dutch voedselbanken).

Activities by ecumenical networks and organisations

Sometimes diaconal activities of local churches for specific (social excluded)
groups have resulted in ecumenical networks and organisations, such as network
DAK. Ad-hoc provisions of shelter by local churches to asylum seekers resulted in
the establishment of a working group within the Council of Churches, a broad NGO
platform with a strong presence of FBOs on undocumented migrants (PMZV) and
independent advocacy organisations such as INLIA. The growing number of food
banks resulted in the Food banks Netherlands Foundation, a network of some 110
food banks, many supported by volunteers from local churches. Both food banks and
church asylum are often understood as forms of ‗helping under protest‘, and
ecumenical platforms such as Arme Kant/EVA, the working group on refugees and
INLIA have been involved in lobbing on behalf of excluded others for more fair
poverty and asylum policies. Others, like Vincentius and its many volunteers prefer
to help in silence and contribute far from the spotlights to local initiatives like food
banks, funds to enable children to fully participate in school and sports, and to
holidays for families in need. Other FBOs have developed into professional service
providers to specific groups living at the margins of society, such as Salvation Army,
Exodus, etc. Still other FBOs focus their activities on social activation of volunteers.
Some recently established faith-based organisations in this category are
characterized by new working philosophies. For instance, organisations such as HiP
and Present aim at matching supply of volunteers to needy individuals, by
activating people from churches to do volunteer work on an ad-hoc rather than
structural basis. While these matching approaches are in line with the network
society, the emphasis on volunteers being ‗present‘ for needy others aims to bridge
the gap of people‘s need for a community of proximity.

Activities by faith-based self-organisations of Christian migrants

Faith-based self-organisations of migrants play an important role in the
integration of their members in society, many of whom belong to the most vulnerable
groups in society. Migrant churches often provide practical information about all
kinds of issues, language courses, educational activities, psycho-social care and
social work . A study on the social role of Christian churches in Rotterdam indicates
that the social benefits of migrant churches are similar to that of native churches.
Applying the method of ‗Social Return On Investment‘, the average social return of
investment per annum of an autochthon church is estimated at 456,000 Euros, and

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that of a migrant church on 437,000 Euros. The city hosts some 272 churches
(approximately 1/3 are migrant churches) with some 200,000 members, of whom
more than 10 per cent do volunteering. Most activities of volunteers take place in the
fields of psychosocial care, social welfare and community development. Care and aid
of churches is mainly aimed at their own members, but they also reach out to groups
outside the religious community. A study among 44 Catholic migrant churches in
the Netherlands (mainly in the Randstad area) indicates that the main reasons for
participation in a migrant church are: meeting people with a similar background (85
per cent), faith perception in own language and culture (85 per cent), retaining
cultural identity (55 per cent), search for help (24 per cent), providing help (24 per
cent) and orientation on Dutch society (19 per cent).

Local activities of Faith-based Organisations in social domains

This section describes the activities of FBOs in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and
Tilburg, based on domains in which social exclusion occurs and can be combated.

Incomes/debts
A lot of people in the Netherlands have to manage on low incomes and recent
statistics (Steketee et al, 2010) show that the gap between children who live in ‗good‘
or deprived neighbourhoods continues to grow. FBOs often get in touch with groups
that live on the margins of society. Sometimes they help out by dispensing small
financial help at the individual level, within the community as well as outside their
own community. Financial support can be given in a variety of forms and at different
levels. Providing financial support to specific target groups, the Open Door
(Amsterdam), for example, administers several funds such as a fund for school books
for children (Leren zonder Papieren).
In migrant communities religious and social activities are often mixed. This
results in a different way of assisting people. While most Dutch people go home after
mass, migrant communities often stay together to eat, and informally solve social or
financial problems, or set up initiatives for needy members. We see this often with
Islamic FBOs, in all three municipalities. They act out of the zakat. This is a
religious obligation of the Islam to give a part of your property to the poor. The
collected money is often sent to the poor outside the Netherlands, but the attention
for poverty in their own country is growing. One example is the Al Kabir mosque is
Amsterdam which provides sporadically financial aid to individuals in need in their
own community, like transportation costs of deceased to Morocco. They also help out
outside their own community, for example during Ramadan zakat al fitr is collected
for poor people abroad. Another example is Masjid El-Feth in Tilburg where
collections are made for when emergences occur among members. Other FBOs
instigate separate ‗working groups‘ for financial aid, like the Portuguese speaking/
Cape Verdean religious community Nossa Senhora da Paz in Rotterdam, which has
a separate working group that offers help to people in acute financial problems.
Often, however, religious communities do not have enough financial means to
dispense money. And, overall, we observe that demands for financial aid have
increased considerably, especially the demand for debt aid. The Kocatepe mosque in
Rotterdam for example states ―we are a big community, at a given moment you risk
becoming the Social Service.‖ Therefore, more and more FBOs refer those people to
professional organisations, specialized in financial aid and/or dept counseling.

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 Besides the dispensing of money, FBOs actively signal poverty and look after
the interests of the people who live in poverty. The administration of funds by the
Open Door for example resulted out of attention the Amsterdam Taskforce Refugees
drew of the local authorities, now providing temporary financial support to asylum
seekers that are denied government support and/or are waiting on decisions in their
legal procedures. FBOs in Tilburg play an important role in signalling bottlenecks
concerning poverty and social exclusion. Examples are the platform Social Security
(with forty organisations) and the Religious Platform Tilburg (Religieus Beraad
Tilburg). In Rotterdam the local social alliance ROSA35 fulfils this task.
One component of signalling poverty is trying to better reach people in
poverty. The Protestant Community Tilburg, for example, trains its own volunteers
in recognising poverty. And the Missionary Centre Tilburg knows an ‗ombudsteam‘,
which performs pre-work for the case managers of the Social Service and helps
people filling in tax forms. Old Neighbourhoods Pastoral Care organisations in
Rotterdam and the ‗purpose foundation‘ of the Glorious Chapel in Rotterdam
educate people about dealing with bills, and Abou RakRak in Rotterdam gives a
course ‗how to deal with money‘. These examples illustrate that FBOs regularly
work in a preventative fashion, by educating people in poverty about their rights
and duties. All three municipalities also make use of faith-based networks to call
attention to income support regulations.

Non-financial aid
Volunteers from churches and sometimes mosques are often involved in food
banks in cities. Leading members of the evangelical Trinity Chapel were, for
example, the driving force behind a large food bank in Tilburg. In Amsterdam an
inner city food bank was initiated by the deacon of the St. Nicolas church, attracting
some 50 volunteers including many non-church members. To coordinate the
volunteer work, church members from the Roman Catholic as well as the Protestant
churches formed a steering group. In the Bos & Lommer district in Amsterdam
volunteers from churches and mosques set up a food bank together; faith inspired
Mrs. Mac-Nack started in her living room the ‗independent‘ food bank for
Amsterdam South-East ‗Hope for Tomorrow‘. Furthermore, the pastor and
volunteers from the Glorious Chapel are running a food bank in Rotterdam
Lombardijen – with the pastor personally checking peoples‘ income and debts
according to the official guidelines of the Food Bank of the Netherlands.
Food banks represent a contentious form of aid. Within FBOs and also in
politics it is debated to which extent a problem is kept alive in this way. On the
other hand, although food banks may not structurally solve a problem, they carry
within them an important function of recognizing problems. Food banks reach
people stuck in the bureaucracy of public social service delivery, the homeless and
occasionally also undocumented people. Buddy project VONK (initiative of the
Rainbow Group, Amsterdam) links volunteers to clients of food banks in the city,
with the aim of guiding them towards professional assistance and making them
more self supporting. In all three cities the local authorities have decided to
cooperate with Food banks. Food is also distributed via gatherings in churches or
mosques, walk-in centres, diaconal centres of churches in the city centres (e.g. the
Paulus church in Rotterdam) and projects like the Innercity Project in Rotterdam.
This last FBO drives around the city with a bus and distributes coffee, fruit and
sandwiches.

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 Many FBOs report other forms of non-financial assistance: the St. Nicolas
church in Amsterdam develops in cooperation with Kruispost (a small medical
centre for people without medical insurance) the idea of a medicine bank, because
since January 2009 some medicines are no longer refunded by insurance companies.
Since the 1980s, medical personnel has always been working in the Paulus Church
in Rotterdam, as members of staff and on a voluntary basis. In the Suleymaniye
mosque in Tilburg members can have their blood pressure and other medical things
checked every Monday by employees of home care.
FBOs like the Salvation Army and Emmaus have a professionalised system of
second hand shops. The majority of FBOs in our survey is regularly collecting
furniture and clothing for individuals or families in need. In these ways, FBOs offer
emergency assistance, despite the fact that some municipalities have an emergency
fund themselves.

Housing
Various FBOs provide shelter or supported housing to a variety of groups, for
example homeless people, drug addicts, undocumented people, ex-convicts and
people with socio-psychological issues. In Amsterdam and Rotterdam FBOs have a
relatively large share in the shelter and support of the homeless and other people
‗from the street‘, with or without the approval of the government. Examples in
Rotterdam are the unsubsidised ‗homes‘ of Victory Outreach (for people with
addiction and other problems), the fully subsidized shelter projects of the Meeting
foundation and the Salvation Army, and the mixed financed initiatives like ‗Lodge
the Neighbours‘ (Logeerhuis de Buren) of the organisation for social work KSA. This
last example is a lodge for people who come from the hospital, but have no
supporting network at home. They can stay for six weeks and are assisted by
volunteers. (Funded by Churches, the Johanniter Order (Protestant) and a local
budget for innovation within the Social Support Act.)

In Amsterdam, already in 1955 a living community was founded at the

Oudezijds Achterburgwal 100, in the heart of the Amsterdam red light district. The
communitarian community Oudezijds 100 consists of several foundations, among
others Kruispost. It was an explicit choice of the founders to live in the middle of the
city in a neighbourhood with social problems. Furthermore, the Christian Aid and
Resources Foundation (CARF), working hand in hand with the African church
community The House of Fellowship, provides women that want to leave forced
prostitution with shelter, owning 5 apartments/mission houses at secret locations in
the city. The Jeanette Noelhouse shifted its target group from homeless people with
addiction problems into providing temporary housing for refugees excluded from
Asylum Seeker Centres and/or from access to public services. In addition to the
Jeanette Noelhouse there are two other Catholic Worker Houses in Amsterdam
providing housing to undocumented people. Also, with 653 employees and 3600
registered clients, the Salvation Army‘s Goodwill Centre in Amsterdam has a large
market share in the field of social care, especially regarding accommodation and
shelter for vulnerable groups. And Exodus (also active in Rotterdam) combines
supported housing in combination with intensive support aiming to contribute to a
successful reintegration in society for its residents.

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 Participation and work
FBOs add to participation in two ways. First of all they are ‗producers‘ of
voluntary work: their members, volunteers and managers deliver ―a free and
valuable contribution‖ to society. This contribution will be discussed later. Secondly,
FBOs try to boost participation among people experiencing social exclusion, by
offering voluntary work and enlarging the chances for paid work. This happens in
different ways. It often starts with the creation of small networks around these
people. A nice example is formed by the so called compassion networks of the
Meeting Foundation in Rotterdam. At this moment a pilot is running, in which the
foundation selects the homeless who need social network support and another
organisation (Passion) organises the volunteers around them. Within religious
communities we regularly see a ‗high level of self help‘. In the Scots International
church in Rotterdam, for example, the native members explain the procedures in the
Netherlands to non-native members. An example of concrete help finding a job is
‗Dress for Success‘, introduced in the Netherlands by Mara, an independent Catholic
organisation (Rotterdam and The Hague). In this project people at the bottom of the
labour market are supported via the provision of appropriate clothing for a job
interview and dressed professionally.
Some FBOs that used to provide services to homeless people and drug
addicts, are now also engaged in local policies of activation, by organizing day-
activities, running supported labour schemes and subsidized work. With support of a
social investment fund, the Salvation Army currently tries to develop 300 new jobs.
The Rainbow Group (Amsterdam) represents an organisation which has increased
its work and social activation projects for homeless and addicts visiting the walk-in
centres. Since the latest fusion with ‗De Amsterdamse Vriendendiensten‘ (buddy
projects), it also tries to make walk-in centres more like a community centre, by
mixing clients with volunteers. Another organisation that tries to activate its
members is the Pentecost Revival Church International (Amsterdam). The church
actively tries to empower its church members, in the words of the respondent, ―We
develop people.‖ The women ministry at this church includes Dutch language and
computer courses for example. Further, church members are encouraged to start
their own business; the respondent notes that most people working in the market
and shopping centres are church members who used to depend on state benefits. The
minister of the Surinam EBG church in Amsterdam South-East stresses the fact
that individuals and society as a whole benefit from the fact that people develop
themselves by contributing to their community/church. In Tilburg, the Missionary
Service centre Tilburg (MST) offers activation trajectories for social assistance
clients. Furthermore, sometimes mosques and diaconal centres offer some subsidized
jobs themselves, although the number of places was reduced a few years ago. This
created difficulties for many mosques and faith-based grass-roots organisations that
were otherwise without paid staff.

Religious dimension in social services

This research project is not about religion, but about social action of FBOs.
Nevertheless it is crucial to pay attention to the different ways in which religious
identities or values might influence the activities of organisations. Faith plays an
essential role, both in organisations which separate religious activities from social
ones and in organisations that don‘t. This chapter investigates this role.

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 The precise role of religion is nevertheless hard to grasp and differs by
organisation and sometimes even by activity. First of all, FBOs are of course
inspired by many different religious streams, such as Roman-Catholicism,
Protestantism or Islam. The last two streams – and even the in theory unified first
one - are again divided in different faith directions, which sometimes have very little
in common. In addition, in religious organisations of old or new migrants, religion is
often intertwined with culture and ethnicity. In this project we tried to reflect this
diversity in the selection of the organisations under research. However, we do not
focus on the differences in faith or faith background in itself. This chapter provides
more detailed information on the motivation of involved people to be socially active
and on the influence and present of faith in the activities of the organisation.

Faith and motivation of professionals and volunteers

In general, the respondents pointed out that faith inspires people to care for
their ‗vulnerable fellow man‘. In the words of a respondent: ―It is very rewarding job,
because you do not only signal where things go wrong, but you can also give people
trust‖. This quotation and others like it from volunteers and professionals of FBOs
provide a good impression of this inspiration:
―We want to work based on the vision, as noted in the Bible, that Jesus did
good for all‖
―Christianity is not only praying‖
―To make God‘s love present in the city‖
―To help where there is no helper‖
―To live and act in the footsteps of Mohammed‖
―To fight evil with good‖
Many respondents, though, think it is hard to distinguish specific religious
motivations from other. ‗Acting from the love of one‘s fellow man‘ is not seen as an
exclusive Christian or Islamic view of life. They refer to the ‗duty of every man‘, or
explicitly point out humanistic, liberal or leftist values guiding their choices and
engagement with others. A lot of respondents therefore stressed they could well
cooperate with people who fight for an inclusive society from a different world view.
Next to faith, being loyal to the community is an important motivation. The
Portuguese speaking (Cape Verdean) community Nossa Senhora da Paz in
Rotterdam, for example, stresses that their members are especially active because
they see the religious community as ‗their second home‘. The feeling of belonging to
a community is not exclusive for migrant religious communities and can be observed
in FBOs organised in projects, too.
Other reasons for engaging in faith-based activities and organisations are
making a living, the urge to do something practical for people individually as well as
community building, enjoying the work or working with motivated people. Voluntary
work has become more of a ―way to self actualisation‖ (Mara, Rotterdam).
Especially for (older) members of Islamic FBOs, voluntary work is not always
experienced as a free choice. It is seen more as a ‗divine obligation‘; fulfilling you
duty towards God. In the words of one of the respondents: ―Islam is the starting
point for mutual respect. According to Islam, you have to help somebody in need‖.
This duty to help the poor is also shown in the so called zakat, the religious
obligation to give a part of your financial assets to the poor. The social role of
mosques is developing in Europe today. In Muslim countries the cultural norm is to
rely on the family for help. In general, the mosques there are perceived primarily as

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places of worship, although some of our respondents said inspiration could be found
in the social role of mosques in the past in e.g. Turkey and Morocco. In the
Netherlands, Muslims find it easier to use the welfare facilities of the mosque. They
give entrance to new social networks and to regular services. Moreover, they can be
‗trusted‘ and language barrier do not exist there, what seems especially relevant for
the elderly people and new immigrants. Likewise, independent Islamic FBOs use
faith as an ―inspiration to activate‖ (Ettaouhid, Rotterdam) and state that ―Islam
can be a motive, to convince people to participate actively in society‖ (Foundation for
Renewal and Participation, Rotterdam).
Despite the number of motivated volunteers and professionals, certain risk
factors, such as the decreasing membership of common Catholic and Protestant
parishes, challenge the recruitment of volunteers and as a consequence the
continuity of the organisations and their activities. This is not to say that all those
who left the churches or who have stopped attending the religious services, are lost
for activities carried out by FBOs .
The trend, ‗believing without belonging‘, results in the recruitment of so-
called side-line churchgoers (randkerkelijken) or non-church members as volunteers
to help out with diaconal projects. The Protestant diaconate Amsterdam responds to
this trend by only requiring a ‗spiritual base‘ of its volunteers. Oudezijds 100 in
Amsterdam solves the loss of volunteers with hiring more professionals. The
Elthetochurch in Amsterdam mixes people who are only engaged in social voluntary
activities and not attending church services, with faith inspired volunteers. A
respondent of this church believes that people inspired by faith are more likely to
‗make an extra step‘ for the neighbourhood. Volunteers can also be recruited from
job centre aiming at activating social assistance recipients. However, in general,
faith is still important when it comes to hiring personnel.
Organisational modernization seems to be a requirement for large and
medium-sized FBOs that seek to attract both believers and non-believers as donor
and volunteers or workers. It is necessary ―to demonstrate transparency, good
management and accountability. Writing reports and meeting standards of partners
is imperative to growth.‖ (Mara, Rotterdam).

The role of faith in organisation and activities

To understand the role of faith in the identity and profile of FBOs it is
important to emphasize that in the Netherlands in general two types of religious
organisations operating in the social domain can be distinguished:
 Organisations established for a religious goal, being in the first place a
religious community.
 Organisations inspired by faith, which are specifically established for a social
goal, like the provision of good (or ethically inspired) services to individuals
or groups, or the connection of volunteers and ‗good causes‘.
The amount of intermediate forms is numerous, but almost all FBOs can be
traced back to these two basic forms. The first group is first of all a community.
Examples are migrant churches and mosques. Some of these organisations develop
little or no structural activities for the wider society and fall therefore outside the
scope of this research project. Another part develops a range of activities for their
own (partly ‗socially excluded‘) members or for needy ‗others‘. Sometimes these are
executed via separate or independent foundations. Among this group faith is seen as

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a combination of ‗praying and acting‘. An important principle of churches and
mosques is the help of people in need. For some it is of equal importance as loving
God: serving God is not possible without serving one‘s fellow man. For others it is a
consequence of worshipping God: ―So it is a goal of Christianity, not the most
important task (…). But the side effect is the help of and care for people.‖ (Christian
Family International, Rotterdam). In Rotterdam we experienced that the degree in
which mosques organise social activities strongly depends on how the role of a
mosque is defined. ―Some think: the mosque is a place to pray, other things are just
ballast. In the past, however, the mosque did much more. Moroccan youth realizes
this very well, they profile themselves socially much more. But the elderly think the
mosque is divine and not a place for social activities.‖ (SPIOR, Rotterdam) Since the
1990s these differences in views resulted in younger Moroccans establishing new
organisations, after unsuccessful attempts to renew the functioning of mosques from
the inside. In addition, among migrant churches and mosques we often see that,
next to faith, ethnicity, nationality and language are important components of their
identity.
The second group distinguishes itself from the first, because they are in the
first place founded as service organisations with a social goal. These organisations
offer professional services and are often partly subsidized by the government. The
role of faith in these organisations can vary strongly. This type of FBOs is more
common in Amsterdam and Rotterdam than in Tilburg. In Tilburg the group
consists merely of MST, the Round Table House and the Spark Foundation. An
example in Rotterdam is the Meeting Foundation, as we see in their mission: ―Based
on Christian love of one‘s fellow man, the Meeting Foundation offers professional
help to the homeless, based on the needs and possibilities of the client.‖ Another
example in Rotterdam is the Mara Foundation. This organisation re-examined its
roots and claims to combine a business like model of operating with a clear faith-
based identity: ―We are more catholic than ever.‖
In some organisations in Amsterdam, which were set up by churches in the
past, the faith-based identity of the organisation has become the subject of internal
debate. A respondent from the Rainbow Group told that ―the question has risen
whether we should get rid of the faith-identity. In discussions it turned out that
there were always enough reasons, also organisational, to keep it in place‖. Another
example is the Moses House, which has left behind its explicit religious function
already in 1970. This organisation was founded as a secular organisation to do
things churches used to do in the city. However, a few years ago the organisation
changed the statues to formally establish that the organisation subscribes to the
diversity of religions and worlds views in the city.

Faith-based Organisations and the salience of religion

Faith-saturated organisations
In this type of organisation faith has a role in all aspects. The identity and
principles of the organisations are strongly based on a specific religion, the
personnel (both paid and voluntary) exist (almost) entirely of religious people and
faith is explicitly present in the content of the social activities. Furthermore, the
religious faith is seen as essential for the effectiveness of the activities. Clients need
to be religious in the beginning, but eventually the organisation has a clear goal of
faith building.

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 Faith-centred organisations
In these organisations faith place a big and explicit role, but it differs by
organisations in which aspect of the societal activities it is concentrated. Various
FBOs fall into this category. At least in all cases the identity and principles are
unambiguously based on a religious tradition. Besides, the activities are often
organised within a religious context, like in a church building, but this does not
necessarily have to be the case. The personnel, however, is always religious for the
most part and often this is a strict condition to work for the organisation. The role of
faith in the content of social activities differs from not or barely present to moderate
presence. Examples are praying or reading from the Bible during provided meals
and the possibility of exploring the values of Islam.
Faith-related organisations
The organisation has a clear religious identity and principles, often
formulated in a more open and inter-religious way, but it is demanded that the
employees (exceptions are public figures) and volunteers are religious. Volunteers
may openly carry out other motives. The activities can have the intention to bring
across a religious message, but this conveyance is often preformed non-verbally and
not explicitly by deeds of charity and compassion.
Faith-background organisations
These organisations operate secular and often seem secular, despite the
historical ties with a religious tradition. Activities have no explicit religious content.
The typology of Sider and Unruh is strongly based on the specific situation in
the US. Nevertheless, these categories are useful to accentuate differences between
organisations. In the Netherlands, we find a continuum with a lot of organisations in
the middle (faith-centred and faith-related), where some degree of intermingling and
hybridization of activities and motivations play a role. We can identity two
significant objections to this typology. First of all, many organisations in the
Netherlands depend for the content of their activities strongly on the wishes and
possibilities of the target group. This is a deliberate choice with elements like
‗presence‘ and ‗exposure‘, following Baart (2001), at the heart of the philosophy of
engagement. There is no approach or goal determined beforehand. Faith is the
inspiration, but the activities and action are determined by ―what is needed in the
neighbourhood‖ (Old Neighbourhood pastoral Care Middelland-South).
Consequently, the role of religion in these activities can vary strongly, depending on
the wishes of the clients. Often one looks with the client for meaning in someone‘s
existence. This can mean something else for everybody. A lot of organisations are,
indeed, strongly context-orientated and can operate like a secular supplier, a
supplier of meaning or evangelizing.
The second problem with this typology is that is has difficulties dealing with
FBOs in which faith is at the same time absent in most activities and omnipresent
in the background. These kinds of FBOs are often established by and for members
with the same ethnic background, who practice the same faith. Faith is often not
explicitly mentioned in the vision of the organisation, and the organisation not
always presents itself as an FBO. In the content of the social activities faith also
plays a minor role. However, the activities are in practice organised by and for
religious people. Among this type there are especially Moroccan, Turkish and
Somalian self organisations.

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 Faith-based Organisations and questions of governance
What is the position of FBOs towards the government, and what is the vision
of the government on cooperation with these organisations? Can local governments
and FBOs establish partnership relations, maybe even developed into new modes of
urban governance? In this chapter, this relationship is considered in the light of the
activities to combat social exclusion. However, these activities can not be separated
from the relation between FBOs and the (local) government in general. Therefore
this chapter starts with a discussion on the interpretation of the separation between
church and state in the Netherlands. Attention is also paid to other principles and
attitudes guiding the day to day relations between religious organisations and the
(local) state. Further on, we have a closer look at the different perspectives of the
Government and the FBOs on cooperation. Subsidy relations are here discussed as
one of the possible forms of cooperation.

The framework of state-religion relations

FBO involvement in public policies is largely determined by formal and
informal relations between state and religion. The principle of separation between
state and church is not incorporated in Dutch law as such, and should rather be
understood as the result of subtle, often ‗silent‘ political agreements. These non-
official agreements only slowly change under pressure of shifts in public opinion.
Articles 1 and 6 of the Constitution highlight the most important elements that
affect the relations between state and church. Article 1 stresses the equality of
individuals and prohibits discrimination based on religion or beliefs among others
and article 6 guarantees the freedom of religious practices of individuals and groups.
Another important article is 23 on the freedom of education, which implies state
support for faith-based schools. One effect of the latter article is the exemption of
religious institutions from certain anti-discrimination laws. An organisation founded
on religious principles, for example, may impose requirements on the occupancy of
posts which are deemed necessary to live up to its founding principles. By most
FBOs this possibility is seen as an important achievement, although quite a few
FBOs recruit staff and volunteers belonging to other faith groups than their own or
to none at all.
The principle of separation of church and state in the Netherlands does not
prohibit financial aid of the government to certain activities of religious communities
and organisations. The fact that the Roman Catholic and Protestant pillars were
basic constitutive elements of the modern Dutch state has certainly been crucial for
that.
FBOs in other domains of society, such as welfare provisions, were operating
in a similar situation, although state influence was more limited when compared to
education at first (until 1960s) and quickly became more present and dominating
afterwards. The state funded FBOs operating in the field of welfare, health care and
social work ―enabled the state to closely monitor and regulate what religious groups
are doing, and set the parameters for their continuing participation in public life‖.
Kennedy and Valenta (2006, p. 348), however, paint the Dutch past in darker
colours, too: ―The separate but equal institutions of Dutch pillarised society enabled
the equitable distribution of government monies and support across communities,
while stimulating an intense distrust and intolerance between communities,
particularly at the individual level and ideological level. It is precisely this history of
religiously-based practices [of] intolerance within structures of tolerance that the

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Dutch fear will return through the support of minority communities (…).‖ New
tensions arise now that society is no longer officially organised along the old socio-
religious lines, whereas at the same time new religious groups cling to their right of
building capacity in their own communities, instead of the willingness or combined
with the willingness to integrate with the rest of Dutch society.

The neutral state and subsidizing

Due to the historical developments of Dutch state-religion relations, faith-
based organisations are treated equally to secular organisations in civil society and
can count on financial support for their non-religious activities - if these fit the
interests of the state.
Van der Burg points out that the separation of state and church and
neutrality are two different – although related- things. Neutrality is a broader ideal
related to the content of policies, while the separation between state and church
concerns the institutional connections between organisations of the church and the
state. It therefore has a more legal nature.
Van der Burg distinguishes three forms of neutrality:
1. Exclusive neutrality. Religion in this vision is a private matter and is
therefore kept out of public space as much as possible. Subsidizing activities of
churches or mosques is out of the question, regardless of their nature (religious or
social). This seen as the own responsibility of these groups.
2. Inclusive neutrality. Individuals and groups have the freedom and right to
speak and act from their own religion or life conviction also in the public sphere.
This vision demands an equal treatment of all (acknowledged) religions and life
views by the government. The government may offer support to activities of
organisations (also financially). Activities should meet the goals of the government
and the government may not prioritize one religion over the other. Religious and
non-religious groups should also be treated equal.
3. Compensating neutrality. In this vision religious convictions and faith-
based actions are tolerated in the public space, as well. In addition, the government
may also fulfil an active role in compensating religions and life convictions that are -
because of special or structural circumstances- disadvantaged. In this vision the
support for religious activities is sometimes possible, like support for the realisation
of a church or mosque facility.
Equal treatment with other non-profit organisations is visible in a rather
passive form of financial state support: all FBOs are exempted from value added tax
on payments. In addition, FBOs can also benefit from other tax exemptions if they
are regarded an ‗Institution for General Benefit‘ (Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling
or ANBI). This category includes a list of non-profit organisations, like churches,
mosques, faith-based organisations, charity, cultural and scientific institutions that
contribute to the ‗collective good‘ and are approved by the Tax Service
(Belastingdienst). Such institutions don‘t have to pay tax on donations and
inheritances they receive, and payments made by ANBI‘s for the collective good are
also exempted from donation tax. Individuals that provide gifts to ANBI‘s in turn
can deduct these from their income tax.

General tendencies in state-religion relations

Beside these more principled considerations, public officials have to make
considerations of more practical or pragmatic kind.. Van der Burg states: ―The

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Salvation Army and Jewish Social Work justly receive support for a part of their
activities. The use of this ‗religious structure‘ does not have to lead to objections as
long as the separation of church and state (no institutional influence and no
judgment with respect to the content of the views of the organisation) is respected in
the design. This support, however, should not be seen as outcome of compensation or
inclusive neutrality. The support should primarily be justified by the argument that
the use of the religious infrastructure is an effective mean to reach certain policy
goals. The Salvation Army receives much more money for her social activities than
would be justified according to the proportional assignment based on the amount of
members.
Of course the opinions on this topic differ. Counter arguments, for example,
emphasize that by the use of the religious infrastructure the focus on religion in the
lives of groups and individuals is too big. The first line of critique is that the use of
FBOs forms an obstacle for integration and social cohesion. Maybe the social
cohesion within groups is strengthened, but not the cohesion between religious
groups. A second line of critique focuses on the role of religion within the
organisations and the activities. Are the services available for adherents of other
faiths or non believers?
Despite these objections, Dutch authorities subsidise many activities and
projects of FBOs, either within the context of official policies, or because they have
an interest in FBOs providing assistance to certain groups the welfare state does not
include, such as the homeless or undocumented people. Subsidizing activities of
religious organisations is advocated because of their social importance (implicitly
meaning more effective or efficient). Pro arguments are for example that FBOs are
better able to reach certain group than the government. Another argument is that
FBOs are cheaper because they work with volunteers or bring in own means. The
government has also been keen in financing projects of faith-based self-organisations
of migrants aimed at fostering the emancipation and participation of their members
in society. In recent years there has been increased state funding for (inter-religious)
dialogue projects as well. Although there is a great deal of continuity in the relations
between state and religion, especially at the local level, a change in national
integration policies can be observed, from stimulating the emancipation of
minorities in society towards the civic integration of newcomers. Public support for
mainly Moroccan and Turkish Muslim institutions used to be related to the
dominant belief that self-organisations were important for the emancipation and
integration of these various social groups. In recent years the model of integration
with retention of identity laid down in the ethnic minorities policy has become
increasingly contested, and new emphasis is put on civic integration, by introducing
civic integration courses and exams as prerequisite to obtain temporary and
permanent resident permits. As a consequence, previously undisputed forms of state
support for activities of religious self-organisations in society, meet with much more
suspicion and are debated openly, also at the local level.
While some FBOs, such as Exodus, the Salvation Army and other local faith
based service providers have their activities up to 80 per cent or more funded by the
state, others work with a variety of financial sources. Support from faith-based
Funds, such as Haella, SKaN, the Rotterdam Foundation etc., is important for many
FBOs, as are independent fund-raising campaigns. Faith-based self-organisations of
Muslims and Christian migrants mainly rely on contributions from members,
although sometimes financial support for the building of a mosque or contracting of

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imams comes from abroad. Those national FBOs with relatively high levels of
donations by members, regard high degree of financial self support a healthy
situation for any faith-based organisation. Some umbrella organisations, however,
feel excluded from government subsidies. A common complaint of representatives of
Islamic umbrella organisations is a lack of financial means to create a - small -
professional executive office. Many would like to see the government invest in the
sustainability of their organisations. Dissatisfaction among ‗new‘ FBOs also exists in
the context of large amounts of subsidies given to ‗neutral organisations‘ that try to
reach their ‗rank and file‘. But there are also signs of increasing cooperation. In the
last years, Islamic women and mosque umbrella organisations, in cooperation with
IHSAN, have been successful in obtaining government subsidies for projects aimed
at raising awareness on issues such as honour killing and domestic violence.
Although these are signs of fruitful cooperation, some representatives regret that
the government seems only interested in subsidizing projects on ‗controversial‘
issues, which represent relatively marginal problems in comparison to issues such
as the labour market discrimination of women wearing a headscarf.

Future perspectives of organisations and broader tendencies

At the end of this report we like to shift our focus from the present to the
future. We asked all representatives of the FBOs in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and
Tilburg about their opinion on the chances and threats regarding their
organisations, goals and activities. What do they expect to be the decisive
developments in the near future? We end this concluding chapter with some general
tendencies based on all the information we encountered during this project.

The future from the perspective of the Faith-based Organisations

Chances
It is a harsh reality that the opportunities for FBOs are dependent on the
problems of people. There will always be people who fall through the cracks.
Although most interviewees believe that the government should take more
responsibility here, many of them see also a special task for FBOs in solving the
problems of people who fall through the safety net. This is because FBOs have ―the
knowledge, the involvement, the emotion and also a substantial membership.‖
(Meeting Foundation, Rotterdam). Furthermore, the government tends to only offer
‗physical‘ help, while ―there are many more spiritual/psychic problems in society‖
which FBOs are more capable of dealing with (Christian Family International,
Rotterdam). A large majority of FBOs therefore want to expand their activities, in
terms of accessing more target groups and locations as well as organizing new
activities in the future. In Tilburg especially, activities concerning integration and
participation were mentioned, such as activities for children and youth (Majid El-
Feth), dialogue (Liberal Jewish Community), language courses (Majid El-Feth), art
and cultural activities (Suleymaniye mosque), and solidarity between generations
(Suleymaniye mosque). In Rotterdam, the focus is especially on expanding activities
for children and youth, like homework classes, sport activities or a community
centre. A shortage of activities available for children above the age of twelve was
often mentioned. In Rotterdam and Amsterdam, several FBOs wish to move to
another (larger or better equipped) building. Several Amsterdam based FBOs plan
to provide better support for hard to reach target groups such as women of closed

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religious communities, undocumented people, victims of the sex slave trade and ex-
convicts.
Besides expansion, multiple FBOs want to improve their methods of working,
especially in terms of ways of reaching out to people in need. Several organisations
see good opportunities in the emphasis on personal development and empowerment
of clients, and the implementation of this in existing activation schemes. Many
FBOs in Rotterdam stress they can accomplish more through cooperation: ―If you
want to do things in the long run, you need cooperation.‖ (Paulus church). FBOs feel
that it is especially important to cooperate at the neighbourhood level, because of
decentralisation tendencies in government: ―It has to happen in the
neighbourhoods.‖ (SPIOR). In Tilburg, New Song and the Trinity Chapel, for
example, would like to see better cooperation between the Evangelical communities,
while in Amsterdam, several FBOs have advocated more cooperation between the
established churches and migrant churches. However, according to the Evangelical-
Lutheran Diaconate, the main challenge will be how to balance cooperation with
partners, without losing focus and becoming too much of an ad-hoc organisation.
Future prospects are also influenced by the maintenance or reshaping of the
relations between religious institutions and work conducted by groups in the
periphery. As the Theological Working Group of Eurodiaconia expresses: ―Diaconal
work is sometimes done without clear organisational ties to church institutions in a
kind of ‗diaspora‘ situation. This happens e.g. in urban mission with regard to
poverty, unemployment and other socially problematic areas […] [The] official
church should be more aware and supportive of this kind of work. After all, it is
diaconal and therefore part of the church‖. While many active members of these
initiatives will probably agree that churches should be more supportive, many also
cherish their independence. More support might imply more financial means and a
larger audience. Independence, however, might increase the credibility of the
organisation among client groups and within certain denominations. It might also
allow organisations to be more flexible in their responses to social developments and
in their choice in selecting other groups and institutions to work with.
In addition, especially in Rotterdam, FBOs see opportunities in terms of
cooperation with the government. They strive for contact on a regular basis on issues
and developments. In addition, (more) government funding would enable FBOs to
offer more support to people in the margins of society. Subsidies are also seen as a
sign of appreciation for the work that they do.

Threats
An important reason for wishing to cooperate with government originates
from the fear of financial shortages in the future. Original money sources, such as
faith-affiliated charitable funds, slowly dry up. The membership levels are
decreasing (traditional Dutch denominations) or members are not able to contribute
enough (non-western communities and organisations), because they themselves
belong to the poorer sections of society. One of the effects of declining financial
resources is that paid employees can no longer be afforded. According to the
Neighbourhood Pastoral Care Middelland-South, this affects the quality of work
because ―mutual relations between people and problems are often so complicated
that you need highly qualified, devoted, affectionate and reliable paid staff to keep
standing in between.‖

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 However, as we have seen before, FBOs want to be able to shape their course.
For many organisations, being able to give a voice to the problems and concerns of
their members or clients is crucial, while the fact of the matter is that whoever
controls the finances ultimately gains (some) control over the way that it is spent.
Subsidized FBOs also have to cope with political changes. In Rotterdam for example,
the government pays a lot of attention to target groups which FBOs also focus on,
such as migrant women, lonely elderly, youth at risk and the homeless. Although
most FBOs feel that they are appreciated for their work and are seen as important
partners by policy makers, they are aware that policies can change quickly.
Future concerns also relate to the fact that basically all FBOs tend to use
volunteers to carry out their work. This may strengthen the quality of their work,
because volunteers are often involved for many years and are not tied to
achievement norms, targets, strict numbers of contact hours, etc.
However, this also makes the work vulnerable, as volunteers can quit any
time they like. There is also a limited amount of time and responsibility you can ask
of them. The Suleymaniye mosque in Tilburg, for example, wants to pay people for
giving homework classes in the future: ―Because we do not believe in volunteering
[in education], you do not attain the quality you want.‖
Many FBOs struggle due to a shortage of volunteers. Within traditional
organisations, aging and secularization cause a decreasing membership and
therefore a decrease in available volunteers. In migrant churches, on the other hand,
the rank and file seems to grow and rejuvenate. However, this last group does
voluntary work in addition to their paid job and family and therefore has less time.
In this group, FBOs also experience individualization; ambitious people with better
jobs are often more difficult to recruit for voluntary work. They are too busy with
their own career. The church ―no longer ranks first‖. Furthermore, many (young)
people are no longer connected to their neighbourhoods. While most older church or
mosque goers have been living in a particular neighbourhood for most of their lives,
new residents will likely move on elsewhere after a few years. Without enough
volunteers FBOs risk to ―go under by our own success‖ (The Worldhouse).

Activities and trends in FBO presence in cities

From a national perspective we described the activities of the traditional
Dutch churches, of ecumenical networks, of religious self organisations of Christian
migrants and of mosques and Islamic organisations with a social goal. After that we
looked at the main contributions that Dutch FBOs make to the local social fabric
and hence the local capacity to fight social exclusion and foster inclusion and
cohesion. By providing examples, we listed the contributions of FBOs on domains on
which activities are deployed: income, non-financial needs (like food, furniture and
medical treatment), housing, participation and work, culture and leisure time,
education and upbringing, legal rights, integration and inter religious dialogue.
The relative importance of the religiously inspired social activities in
Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Tilburg has remained relatively stable over the last
decades, yet the type of work has changed. The activities of local parishes/groups of
the major, traditional churches are dwindling, due to a decrease in membership and
financial means. However, this decrease has been compensated for in terms of
innovative working methods of (independent) organisations affiliated with Catholic
and Protestant communities and through the creation of new contacts between those

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communities, independent FBOs, funds with an ideological background, general
welfare organisations and public authorities.
This leads to less ‗innate‘ and more communal projects, in which the religious
inspiration takes on new forms. In these new alliances, projects and networks,
religion either plays a role in the background or is a prominent constituent of
activities, together with other identities. Examples of what might be labelled
postsecular co-operation include, Food Banks, schoolfunds for children from poor
families, youth work, anti-poverty campaigns, buddy projects, welcome programmes
to new citizens, inter religious dialogues, neighbourhood meetings or medical and
legal assistance to undocumented migrants.
Second, the role of the ‗new‘ religious communities is growing, which is not
always visible yet. They provide many services for members of their own
communities and/or for people belonging to their own ethnic group. The social
position of some of their adherents - in terms of a lack of money, lower levels of
education, partly unsuccessful integration (unable to speak Dutch, low participation
levels of women) - demands this according to the representatives of these
communities. They increasingly cooperate with other organisations and the
authorities, which enables them to offer better help, referrals, etc., to their own
members. Criticism from within and from public officials can be heard on several
issues. First, on the ability of these communities and organisations to reach out to
young people and marginalised others not attending the religious services and
activities. Second, on the slow progress of raising the level of professionalization in
terms of leadership of mosques, churches and organisations.
There is a third development which, albeit indirectly, supplies the FBOs with
new initiatives in the field of combating social exclusion, namely the increase of
inter-religious dialogue. Where this used to be a token of goodwill, contacts over the
last 5-10 years have clearly increased. This has occurred predominantly between the
evangelical and traditional Dutch churches, followed by co-operation between Dutch
churches and the so called migrant churches, and finally, between mosques and
(mainly) the traditional Dutch churches. Nevertheless, dialogue, and certainly
further cooperation, often depends on a few people in these communities.
Representatives of organisations, who strive for openness, are aware of the
scepticism concerning cooperation with other faiths, and hence, the vulnerability of
their own position.

Urban networks
FBOs in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Tilburg are well founded in the local
networks surrounding poverty, integrating and supporting newcomers, and inter-
cultural and inter-religious dialogue. In addition, in Amsterdam and Rotterdam,
FBOs are vital to networks offering services to the homeless and supporting asylum
seekers and undocumented migrants and refugees.
Almost all FBO involvement in networks starts on a practical level; it stems
from individual contacts and relates to a common context: certain issues and
projects, a shared working philosophy, or area-based concerns. Cooperation with
other FBOs and NGOs is often informal and practical. In many cases regular
(secular) and religiously inspired organisations cooperate. An important conclusion
is that FBOs do not have a preference for cooperation with other FBOs (of the same
domination). Of course this has partly to do with the main reason to link with
others: serving your target group, clients or members/ supporters the best you can.

105
Rendering them the information they need to improve their situation and those of
their children, is most of the time realised by linking their own limited services with
more specialised or regular services.
Many networks operate both on a practical and a managerial level, but
especially faith-based communities and small projects either prefer not or are not
capable (because of a lack of resources and time available) to cooperate at the policy
level. Influential policy oriented networks with a strong FBO presence are, for
example, the Platform social security in Tilburg and the networks in the
homelessness sectors in the other two cities. In the fields of integration and fostering
social cohesion the national and local inter-religious councils and platforms should
be mentioned, as well as small scale neighbourhood dialogue projects.

FBO – government relations

In general, Dutch national and local governments have always welcomed
alternatives for statutory services or the possible added value to statutory services
offered by FBOs. At the national level, long lasting financial relations between FBOs
and the state and the habit of automatic prolongation of these relations belong to the
past. The national government still supports actions promoting volunteering
through intermediary organisations like FBOs and improving the implementation of
policy measures (anti-poverty and anti-debt projects, projects against human
trafficking, domestic violence, improving civic integration) aiming at hard-to-reach
groups. Most frequently, however, the government does so on the basis of short-term
projects or contracting–out policies. Overall, not only the nature of the relations
between government and nation wide FBOs has changed, also the amount of money
involved has decreased since the 1990s, although exact information is difficult to
come by in terms of figures.
At the local level welfare provision through general services is the rule. The
total amount of public funding to FBOs seems to have remained remarkable stable
since the 1990s. Contact between religious communities and municipalities,
however, has clearly increased over the last 5 to 10 years. The forms of cooperation
show an increasing variety. The reasons to cooperate are divers, too. In the first
place, from a government‘s perspective, FBOs are thought of as working efficiently
and effectively. FBOs are seen as simply doing the job, just like any other NGO that
is ‗hired‘ to help reach policy goals. This pragmatic approach also raises criticism.
Representatives of religious communities complain of being simply addressed as
entrances for government agencies or NGOs to get in touch with communities. There
is the perception that there is no real interest in establishing long term relations or
engaging themselves in equal partnerships. FBOs understand the support of
government for service delivery and other public goals as predominantly pragmatic.
Another area of debate is that government prefers partners that primarily adhere to
and implement governmental objectives. Orthodox and evangelical organisations,
but also radical progressive FBOs, find it more difficult to be accepted as partners in
governance networks. Throughout the report several local discussions on these
issues were described. In addition, examples from Amsterdam indicate the danger of
public tendering in social policies for the position of FBOs. When tendering gives
organisations a monopoly on the provision of certain public services, the faith-
identity of FBOs will be more contested than when these services are provided by
different secular and faith-based organisations.

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 Other FBOs and policy makers do emphasize the contribution of religious
inspired communities and organisations to widely accepted goals like empowering
people, building bridges between informal and regular services, enhancing
volunteering and participation, fighting poverty, re-establishing trusting relations
between marginalised people and society and developing small scale, contiguous,
networks. In addition, policy makers recognise the contribution of FBOs to
community building and in promoting inter religious and inter cultural dialogue and
social cohesion. Many FBOs are satisfied with the recognition by the local and
national authorities of their role in society.
Yet, FBOs want to shape their own course. For almost all communities and
organisations, being able to give a voice to the problems and concerns of their
members or clients is crucial. For that reason they keep some distance towards the
government.

Added value of faith-based organizations

FBOs are thought of bringing an ‗added value‘ compared to governmental
agencies and in some cases secular NGOs. Discussions on ‗added-value‘ concentrate
on a few things. In the first place, they are centred around alternative approaches to
support and care that seek to attend to the holistic person - encompassing physical,
emotional, social and spiritual dimensions. Adjusting to the pace of the beneficiaries,
listening to them, simply ‗being present‘ , looking under the surface, trying to get to
the ‗question behind the question‘, building up trust, are also common concepts.
Only in established Dutch FBOs are these discussions explicitly held. But many of
these concepts seemed also at work in many Islamic organisations and migrant
churches, although often limited and in some cases distorted by other approaches.
Many of these discussions are also currently held in broader circles of social work,
care and community building. The issues are also present in a national campaign of
the government, the municipalities and the social sector, titled ‗welzijn versterkt‘
(welfare and social work reinforced). In the second place, emphasis is put on the
contribution of religious groups to existing networks in neighbourhoods, or on the
way they help to establish new connections in neighbourhoods where old ties have
vanished and structures crumbled down. The work of the Neighbourhood Pastorate
contributed to new insights on these challenges, just as the practices in many
ordinary parishes and mosques do. In the third place, the added value was also
identified in terms of monetary value, because, ―for every Euro the government
spends on a public funded FBO, the FBO brings in an additional Euro through
private funds and the use of volunteers‖, as some organisations in Rotterdam claim.

Future
How do FBOs appraise future developments (chances and risks)? In the
future, most of the organisations would like to expand their social activities to some
extent. Several organisations say that they would like to cooperate with other faith-
oriented or neutral organisations with similar aims. Most of the interviewees say
that more can be achieved through cooperation. A few organisations are looking for
chances to become subsidised, because other sources of income, such as contributions
from members and Catholic orders, is diminishing. Other threats are a short supply
of volunteers due to ageing, secularisation and individualisation which has left its
mark in all denominations. Having many young members does not always help, as
they must often combine their voluntary work with their jobs and busy family lives.

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Finally, in all cities it is feared that the municipality will show less interest due to
the present economical crisis.
All figures indicate that in the short run the number of unemployed will increase
and the purchasing power of citizens living on a minimum income level, will
decrease. While there is much work to be done for groups and organisations focused
on supporting social excluded people, it is not realistic to expect that the presently
active FBOs in the Netherlands are going to develop new activities on a large scale.
This observation has several reasons:
1. They do not have the people or the financial means to do so;
2. It does not suit the small-scale and often personal manner in which they
prefer to work;
3. In general the amount of public subsidies available will be reduced, due to
the economic crisis;
4. Obtaining a higher share of public funding in one‘s budget requires
adaptation to more strict requirements (although some governments are
undertaking efforts to reduce the bureaucratic load);
5. Support to general services is the rule, and will be even more dominant in
the near future, so it seems: subsidies to religious organisations, even if they
are strictly used to reach public goals are increasingly the subject of public
debate. In the short run, this will deter (perhaps even scare off) some FBOs
and make policy makers more reluctant to subsidise projects initiated by
FBOs.
In the long run, this debate may increase opportunity prospects to obtain public
funding once organisations and policy makers become more familiar with the new
rules and preconditions for financing FBOs. The public debate might also contribute
to more knowledge and awareness of the many functions that FBOs fulfil in society.

Bibliography

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University Press.
Ammerman, N.T. (ed.) (2006) Everyday Religion: observing modern religious lives,
New York: Oxford University Press.
Ammerman, N. T., Carroll, J. W., Dudley, C. S., & McKinney, W. (eds.) (1998).
Studying Congregations: a new handbook, Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press
Beaumont, J. R. (2004). ‗Workfare, associationism and the ―underclass‖ in the
United States: contrasting faith-based action on urban poverty in a liberal welfare
regime‘. In Noordegraaf, H. and R. Volz (eds.) European Churches Confronting
Poverty: social action against social exclusion, Bochum: SWI Verlag, pp. 249-78.
Beaumont, J. R. (2008b) ‗Introduction: faith-based organizations and urban social
issues‘, Urban Studies, 45(10): 2011-17.
Becker, U. (1999). ‗The ―Dutch Miracle‖; Employment growth in a retrenched but
still generous system.‘ SPRC Discussion Paper, Sydney: University of New South
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Netherlands 2009. The Hague: The Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP).

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Boer, N. de, & Duyvendak, J.W. (2004). ‗Welzijn‘, in H. Dijstelbloem, P. L. Meurs
and E. K. Schrijvers (eds) Maatschappelijke dienstverlening: Een onderzoek naar
vijf sectoren. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Calvert, R. (2007). Gids voor Christelijke Migrantengemeenschappen in Rotterdam.
Rotterdam: SKIN-Rotterdam.
Clarke, G. (2006). ‗Faith matters: faith-based organisations, civil society and
international development‘, Journal of International Development, 18(6): 835-48.
Davelaar, M., Swinnen, H., & Woerds, S. ter (2003). European cities and local social
policy: Survey on developments and opinions in six european countries, Bern:
Federal Social Insurance Office.
Davelaar, M., & Toorn, J. van den, (2010) Faith-based solidarity marginalised?
Homelessness, Faith-Based Organisations and the national action Plan for Social
Relief in the Netherlands. Paper presented at the 5th Annual Research Conference
on Homelessness in Europe, Budapest, 17th September 2010.
Ebaugh, H.R., Chafetz, J.S., & Pipes, P.F. (2006). ‗Where‘s the Faith in Faith-based
Organisations? Measures and Correlates of Religiosity in Faith-based Social Service
Coalitions‘ Social Forces, 84(4): 2259-2272.
Harris, S. (2004). The End of Faith: religion, terror, and the future of reason, New
York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
Kahl, S. (2005). ‗The religious roots of modern poverty policy: Catholic, Lutheran
and reformed Protestant traditions compared‘, Archives Européennes De Sociologie
46(1): 91-126.
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Reflections on the future of article 23‘, in W. B. H. J. van de Donk, A. P. Jonkers, G.
J. Kronjee and R. J. J. M. Plum (eds) Geloven in het publieke domein: Verkenningen
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Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid.
Maarten Davelaar,Jessica van den Toorn,Nynke de Witte,Justin Beaumont,Corien
Kuiper, ‖ Faith-based Organisations and Social Exclusion in the Netherlands‖, 2011.
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Social Protection and Social Inclusion the Netherlands 2008‘, Den Haag: SZW.
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Volz (eds) European churches confronting poverty: Social action against exclusion,
Bochum: SWI Verlag.
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Sector Quarterly 33(1): 109-134.

Websites:

FBOs in Tilburg (selection):

www.el-feth.nl/
www.rondetafelhuistilburg.nl/
www.rooihart.nl/
www.trinitychapel.nl/
www.newsong.net/
FBOs in Rotterdam (selection):
www.abourakrak.nl
www.sagradafamilia.nl/dutch/geschiedenis.html

109
 www.gloriouschapel.org
www.scotsintchurch.com/index.php
www.volmarijnstraat.nl/html/pastorie.html
FBOs in Amsterdam (selection):
www.afrikahuis.com
www.ayasofia.nl
www.womentrafficking.eu
www.deopendeur-amsterdam.nl
www.deregenboog.org
www.dekenaat-amsterdam.nl
www.blessedtrinity.nl
www.pentecostrevival.nl
www.diaconie.org

110
 3. STRATEGIC GUIDELINES FOR IMPROVING THE SOCIAL
AND CHARITABLE WORK OF THE BULGARIAN CHURCH

Kostadin Nushev

Today the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is rediscovering its spiritual tradition

of catholicity and social responsibility, but it also faces the challenge of having to
actively incorporate into its practices many modern forms of missionary and pastoral
service. Orthodox priests and their parishes need support and training to develop
new forms of missionary and pastoral work with different groups of the population,
such as young adults, children and adolescents at risk, drug addicts, people with
disabilities, representatives of minorities and immigrant groups, prisoners.
At local level, in their practical daily pastoral work many officials of the
structures of the Church, non-governmental organisations, church parish centres
and other associations are prepared, willing and motivated for more active
involvement in the field of social and charitable work, but they often lack the
required systematic knowledge and practical skills or resort to sporadic and isolated
attempts to implement best practices in this area.
A number of social and practical studies have shown that in the organisation
of individual church structures and in the work of individual church officers there
exist good initiatives and practices of social work that could be explored to serve as a
basis for building the entire system of active church social and charitable work,
including specific initiatives aimed at the social inclusion of different vulnerable
groups. At the same time, the data of the surveys and other studies have indicated
that at different levels and in different regions the potential for such church social
activity is not fully exploited since the structures of the Church at national (church)
level do not have any in-depth analysis of relevant opportunities and gaps, as well as
due to the lack of a dedicated strategy for the development of the main areas of
social work of the Church.
In recent years many parishes and dioceses of the Bulgarian Orthodox
Church, along with the recovery of parish life, the restoration of churches and the
organisation of spiritual and educational initiatives, also develop different forms of
social and charitable service. In the past few decades the Bulgarian Orthodox
Church has been trying to rebuild its church system and tradition of social service
and benevolent work but the process has generated as many successful practices as
it has weaknesses. Today the Church finds itself in a new social, cultural, political
and missionary context, much different from the period of the first half of the
twentieth century, when there was a well-developed church system and
infrastructure for Christian social work.
To a large extent, one of the most urgent and pressing tasks facing the
Church today is the requirement to significantly renew its missionary, spiritual and
educational work among the people, but also to revive its social and charitable
service. This evangelical ministering to our neighbour and the renewal of the social
mission of the Church in our time will be the collective work of both individual
Christians and the Church as a spiritual institution and religious community. It
should be enacted in the spirit of the new time, i.e. in a dynamically developing

111
modern world and Europeanisation and European integration of public institutions
and authorities, as well as in the face of the challenges of a new, complex and deeply
pluralistic in its roots and nature public environment.
The lost traditions and the new circumstances present the Church with new
opportunities, but also new challenges. Orthodox clergy and believers are facing a
new situation and encountering a new social culture of consumerist attitudes
towards material goods and a spiritual structure of the consciousness of the modern
man that are to a large extent dominated by the secular worldview and values of
individualism and consumerist attitudes.
The successful practices and models of church social work that can be
observed in certain dioceses of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church should be studied
carefully and an effort should be made to incorporate them into diocesan and parish
ministries, as well as in other administrative divisions and institutions of the
Church in Bulgaria. In the same manner, specific models of organisational and
pastoral work for the needy should be singled out from the practices of other local
churches and should be subsequently translated and adopted at church and national
level as established practices and guidelines for developing church social work
across the entire diocese of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
This process of exploring good practices and functional models, general and
specific requirements of different groups of people in need, and the institutional
environment for the development of social work should focus on the following major
tasks:
1. Determination and identification of the main target groups of socially
vulnerable people, who are traditionally considered a priority for the social and
charitable work of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church;
2. Analysis of their specific needs and access to social assistance from the
state welfare system and appraisal of their socio-economic, health, physical,
spiritual and moral condition and their accessibility for the Church;
3. Analysis of the capacity of the Church to participate in partnership
initiatives in the social sphere aimed at changing the dismal condition of
disadvantaged people;
4. Systematic analysis and assessment of the difficulties and gaps in the
organisation of the modern social work of the Church and formulation of proposals
for adoption and implementation of familiar and established good practices and
functional models for developing an authentic Christian social work of the Church;
5. Analysis of the regulatory provisions and the organisational forms of
cooperation between the Church as a religious institution and its local divisions and
government institutions and public organisations in the social sphere, and outlining
the difficulties, tasks, gaps and prospects for the development of such cooperation;
6. Analysis and evaluation of the social work of the Church in the context of
the new social and economic conditions, and analysis of the opportunities provided
through European social work programmes;
7. Establishing the rate of awareness, competence, readiness and the
possession of specific skills for carrying out social work on the part of church
representatives, as well as the presence of the necessary organisational and
administrative capacity for planning and implementation of religious and social
activities and for attracting the required public support and cooperation;
8. Review and analysis of the level of confidence of people in need and of
public institutions involved in social work in the Church‘s ability to support the

112
really needy and vulnerable groups of society, and evaluation of the attitude of
people and society to the traditional forms of social and charitable work of the
Church. Establishing the willingness of people and social communities to turn to the
Church for support and assistance and to respond to its calls for compassionate
deeds and charitable support;
9. Analysis and evaluation of existing good practices of church social work
through a study and adaptation of the experience of the Romanian Orthodox
Church, the Catholic Church in Italy and Evangelical and Protestant churches in
the Member States of the European Union, and formulation of proposals for
adoption and implementation of certain established Christian models and best
practices of social work that are relevant and applicable to the conditions in
Bulgaria;
10. Setting up training centres and programmes for exchange of experience
and training of priests and other clerical staff for preparation of independent parish
projects and organisation of centres for social work with children and youngsters at
risk, formation of Christian voluntary groups and establishment of cooperation with
organisations and institutions at local and national level for implementation of joint
social work in support of different categories of needy people and social groups.
Accomplishing these objectives has the potential to develop advanced skills
and capacity for the implementation of new types of social work on the part of key
structures and organisations of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church based on the ability
to streamline the traditions of social work and church activity and to adopt the
achievements and good practices of church organisations and structures in the
Member States.
Such processes of enhancing the qualification and capacity of the staff and
structures of the Church through adoption of good practices and established
Orthodox models of church social services can already be seen in some more typical
areas of church ministry. One good example is the spiritual and pastoral care for
drug addicts, mostly young people, which is well-developed in certain dioceses of the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church, such as Varna and Ruse. In these existing parish
centres and developed organisational structures for spiritual, pastoral, social and
psychological support for the treatment and resocialisation of young addicts there
already are parish priests who are prepared for such work and are directly involved
in this pastoral service and spiritual care.
According to the respondent priests and social workers, the main concern of
the Church and the other relevant public institutions should be to ensure the social
commitment of young people, as well as their integration, encouragement and
motivation to actively participate in the life of the community with a view to
becoming worthy citizens. They should be supported throughout their general
studies and studies for acquisition of valuable professional qualification in order to
find employment and not look for alternative routes of personal fulfilment. In this
way, young people will be protected from being marginalised, developing substance
addictions or seeking to emigrate. Very often such people leave the country because
of a sense of hopelessness or in search of employment and opportunities for
professional and social advancement abroad.
Good practices and the respective models of church or parish work should be
systematised and made available for use by other parishes and dioceses. The
accumulated experience and the established system of interaction and cooperation
with the relevant municipal authorities and regional administrations can be applied

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in other cities, monasteries and parishes of individual dioceses as already tested and
proven models of charitable and pastoral work in the practices of the Church.
For example, under the arrangement for friendly care and visits to
orphanages, implemented as a model of social support, other practices and models of
spiritual and social care are developed that are purely religious in nature. One of
them is the establishment of a lasting bond between godparent and godchild, typical
of the Orthodox Church, when a member of the parish providing social assistance to
the inmates of a particular social institution adopts the role of a spiritual parent, or
godparent, for a particular child. In addition, church practices and models of
organising spiritual and institutional support on behalf of parish communities for
children at social institutions also include opportunities for mediation by the parish
for placement of children in foster care.
This social practice can be developed and expanded as the Church‘s
particular contribution to the implementation of social policies for
deinstitutionalisation of children from social homes and institutions and putting
them up with foster families for care and upbringing in a family environment.
The ministry of the Church in support of children with birth defects and the
arrangement of the care for such children are essential for both the children
themselves and their families and for the active expression of Christian charity and
service for the needy, inspired by the love of our neighbour. In Bulgaria children
with birth defects or mentally challenged children, who are often transferred to the
care of specialised homes for medico-social care and medical observation, are left at
the mercy of fortune. Today the situation is similar and the problems are almost the
same as before 1990. Our society is still not sufficiently prepared and well-meaning
to such children, while in many places the attitude is often one of contempt. People
with disabilities and congenital anomalies are scorned at and quite often made
unwelcome in the relevant area. In the case of such children, they frequently end up
rejected by both their parents and society. An indicative case was that of the home
for disabled children in the village of Mogilino, for which the whole of society stood
up in an advocacy campaign to build a new type of protected home. The Bulgarian
Orthodox Church also joined the campaign and the former Metropolitan of Ruse,
now Patriarch Neophyte, urged the people to receive the disabled children in a spirit
of compassion and good will and to support the construction of the new social
establishment for better care and upbringing.
The benchmarking analysis of the successful practices and models of other
local Orthodox churches, mainly the Romanian Orthodox Church, but also the
Russian, Greek and Serbian Orthodox Churches, can contribute to a more rapid
adoption and implementation of already tested and proven practices of the
organisation of charitable and social work in an Orthodox social and cultural
environment.
In this regard, a comparative study of the good social practices and
established models of social and charitable work of the Catholic Church in Italy is
also necessary to complement the data obtained from the study of the Orthodox
Churches in Bulgaria and Romania. The significance of the social experience of the
Catholic Church in Italy and in other European countries with rich traditions in the
area of charitable work of the Church for different social groups is very important
for the Orthodox communities and church institutions in Eastern European
countries like Bulgaria and Romania. The reason is that the Orthodox Churches in
these countries have, for the past two decades, been trying to revive their social and

114
charitable service, whereas in Italy the Christian institutions at local and regional
level have worked continuously for many decades in the course of the twentieth
century, so today their experience is considerable richer and can offer a number of
good social practices that can be borrowed and adapted to the Bulgarian and
Romanian contexts.
Today the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is faced with the need and the
challenge to restore and develop its traditional social and charitable ministry and
care for people with disabilities, to adapt it to the conditions of the modern
dynamically developing society and to seek to actively implement it in the face of the
different grave and severe social problems of destitute people in Bulgaria. Given its
interrupted continuity, this is a difficult and demanding task. Yet, when attempting
to solve it, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church can build on both the traditions and the
good models and practices of the recent and not so recent past and on the practices
of the local Orthodox Churches. In their efforts to develop modern models of church
ministry in support of sick and disabled people Orthodox priests adhere to these two
approaches.
In the field of social work and activation of specialised pastoral care of the
Church in recent years the spiritual, therapeutic, social and psychological care for
young addicts has been of particular importance. The work of the Church and the
involvement of Orthodox clergy and representatives of various church organisations
in this field include both running educational and awareness campaigns, the
meaning and nature of which is mostly preventive, and supporting therapeutic
programmes or participation in the resocialisation of people who have already
completed the stages of addiction treatment.
Along with its social work in cooperation with existing state and municipal
social institutions, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church should also continue its purely
religious social initiatives. For example, recently there have been talks and studies
about the possibility of developing programmes for the work of the Church with
street children under the methodology of the German Christian foundation
Diakonisches Werk. This organisation is affiliated with the Evangelical Church in
Germany and is funded through donations and church tax collected from its
Christian members. It already cooperates with multiple partners from Eastern
Europe, including the Russian and Romanian Orthodox Churches, as well as other
local churches. The purpose of these programmes is to support street children and
young adults who are not subject to state social welfare through the existing
institutions and public infrastructure for provision of social care. With this is mind,
funding is allocated to the construction of centres for social work with street
children, training of social workers for mobile social care, protected housing for
temporary placement, mediation for social services such as provision of employment
and other forms of social, psychological and educational support. Orthodox priests
and parish institutions, church charities and foundations, such as that of Father
Ivan from Novi Han, Pokrov Foundation, Regiona. Development Foundationq
Friends of Bulgaria Foundation, Dialogue and Mercy Foundation etc., through their
projects and religious social activities are beginning to play an important mediating
role between needy people in the poorest and least economically developed regions in
Bulgaria on the one hand, and the humanitarian and charitable assistance of
European and Christian donors from Western Europe on the other. This function of
mediation and social practice of participation in fundraising campaigns on the part
of church organisations and Orthodox foundations helps to attract humanitarian aid

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which, through church programmes, is channeled to social institutions in support of
people in need in towns like Vidin, Lom, Montana and to the children‘s homes in the
surrounding villages. Such institutions are often in a dire financial and material
condition or their premises are in need of repair and the funding they manage to
raise to ensure their work is not sufficient. The financial and methodological support
received from Christian charitable foundations is also used to support and develop
the accompanying social and educational work with children and young adults, as
well as to support the efforts for their social inclusion and reintegration in society. In
recent years substantial progress in this area has been made by the Metropolitan of
Vidin, led by Metropolitan Dometian and with the help of the Orthodox clergy of the
diocese, who initiate and activate many social programmes and activities of the
parishes and monasteries in the diocese. Through such work new forms of social
partnership at local and regional level are introduced. A good example is the joint
social initiative of the Metropolitan of Ruse and the social home in the village of
Brestovitsa, Ruse province.
The main fields of the social work of the Church should be recognised and
adopted as inherent acts of the representatives of the Church and its main
structures and local divisions. To this end, the governing bodies of the Bulgarian
Orthodox Church need to issue the relevant church sanction that will set up a better
organised and formal framework for the social commitments of church institutions.
In the contemporary practices of the local Orthodox churches decisions on such types
of strategic guidance for the development of the Christian social ministry are taken
by the canonical governing body – the Supreme Church Council or the Holy
Archdiocesan Synod. Despite the lack of a completed and adopted official position of
the Bulgarian Orthodox Church on such social matters, unlike other local Orthodox
churches such as, for example, the Moscow Patriarchate, the Holy Synod as the
supreme governing body of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has repeatedly and
clearly spoken out on multiple public and socially significant issues. Such official
positions of the Church exist: in defense of the religious freedom of every citizen; on
the need for spiritual upbringing and religious education for adolescents; in favour of
religious tolerance and toleration in society; on mercy and charity; and in favour of
mutual respect between the representatives of the major denominations and
religious communities in the country. These official documents of the Church clearly
outline the current goals, tasks and guidelines for the social work of the Church,
carried out by Orthodox priests and Christian believers, and prescribe certain social
commitments to their parish communities and to other religious institutions that are
relevant to the social mission and public work of the Church.
The implementation of these strategic objectives can be achieved through
specific actions and organisational activities related to the solution of some basic
tasks and the attainment of general strategic objectives.
1) Preparation of a strategy for development of the social work of the Church,
based on wide consultation, and conciliar approval of its main goals and priorities:
the strategy should incorporate into a coherent whole previously released official
documents and priorities of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church by adopting some
suitable and applicable to Bulgaria guidelines and principles from the current social
concepts and functional models of other local Orthodox churches. It should be
developed in detail and adopted as an official document by the Holy Synod or by the
Church Council of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
2) Raising the awareness of the different target groups in society at which the

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social work of the Church is directed and acquisition of qualifications and
professional skills by the teams for the implementation of the relevant social
programme. This is important for both the people who are the recipients of the social
care, in terms of improved possibilities to receive specific type of qualified spiritual,
pastoral, social and psychological support, as well as for the priests and social
workers themselves. As regards the construction of church therapeutic centres and
communities, a number of divisions of the Church have expressed willingness to
participate through different forms of involvement. The Metropolitan of Varna has
maintained one such parish centre for drug addicts for years and has been
systematically developing an Orthodox model of therapeutic care and a programme
for resocialisation of addicts. The priests and Orthodox volunteers engaged in this
activity work together with medical specialists, psychologists, social workers and
other professionals towards developing a complete programme for treatment and
resocialisation of addiction victims. When building or maintaining such church
therapeutic communities or addiction recovery groups, the church authorities should
cooperate directly with professionals in the fields of medicine, toxicology,
psychotherapy and social assistance and proceed with licensing and certification of
the social support programme.
3) Developing and enhancing the capacity and improving the skills of the
representatives of the Church to develop, organise and implement specific projects in
the field of social work, aimed at reducing social exclusion and supporting the social
integration of various vulnerable groups in society. Creating dedicated church
centres for training of priests and clerical staff for preparation and management of
social work projects financed through the European programmes. Creating parish
and monastic centres for church social work in the various dioceses of the Bulgarian
Orthodox Church to provide methodological and technical support for the
preparation of projects in the field of social work.
4) Enabling church representatives involved in Christian social and
charitable work to draw from the experience of similar organisations in other
European countries or regions (UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Romania,
Greece, Cyprus, Serbia) through exchange of good practices, social experience,
innovative ideas, knowledge and know-how related to the social work of the Church
and Christian charities. Establishing an international network of church
organisations in the field of charitable and social work for exchange of experience,
ideas and expertise in the field of social work.
5) Establishing a network of church and non-governmental organisations at
national level for exchange of experience and good practices, coordination and joint
preparation and implementation of social projects in the field of social work of the
Church. This coordination council or centre will contribute to strengthening and
expanding the cooperation between representatives of the Church and the civil and
non-governmental organisations involved in the implementation of different projects
in the field of social inclusion and development of social economy.
6) Creating a Christian charity fund for provision of financial support for
preparation and implementation of social activities of the Church, charities and
various forms of charitable support for people in need. This fund could also raise
money from the representatives of the Bulgarian diaspora in European countries or
from migrant communities supporting specific charitable and humanitarian
initiatives in Bulgaria.
The conducted comprehensive sociological surveys and polls among priests

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and other clerical staff, lecturers and students of Theology, social workers and
journalists who are engaged in Christian charitable work or are professionally
involved in the activities of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and its local divisions
make it possible to formulate a number of general conclusions and recommendations
concerning the development of the social work of the Church.
The conclusions of the surveys and studies speak of the presence of some new
problems and challenges and outline new horizons for development, each with a
different dimension and perspective. The first group of problems that can be
identified includes mainly internal organisational issues related to the need for a
new internal reorganization of church life and institutional strengthening of church
structures. The second group indicates the need to improve the cooperation between
the structures of the Church and state organisations and social institutions, as well
as to establish sustainable partnerships at local, regional and national level. The
third dimension of the social work of Orthodox organisations of the Church already
delineates a new pan-European level of cooperation which needs to be taken into
account in the development of the social activity of the Church.
The specific recommendations concerning the strengthening of the capacities
of Orthodox priests and their parish communities, institutions and organisations
that can be formulated on the basis of the drawn conclusions and the achieved
results of the survey are:
1. In the first place, the questionnaires and interviews of the respondent
priests and theologians outline the need for a clearer and more categorical definition
of the official position and policy of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in support of the
development of various social, benevolent and charitable activities, bearing witness
to the adoption of this activity as an expression of the social service and Christian
charitable ministry of the Church, as well as a definite Christian witness in today‘s
society. Such a commitment at the level of management of the Church could be
achieved through the adoption of a dedicated programme or concept and a strategy
for development of the social work of the Church, through the designation of
dedicated departments within the synodal administration and metropolitan
authorities, as well as through the formation of dedicated departments for social and
charitable work at parish level.
2. Next, it is necessary to strengthen the specialised education and training
of students in Theology at universities and of practicing priests who are interested
in developing church social work and who organise charitable activities in their
parishes. This specialised training should focus on strengthening the motivation and
acquisition of special skills for regeneration and restoration of traditional church
forms for building and developing a Christian social ministry. The training should
also include acquisition of specialised knowledge and development of specialised
practical skills for adoption and implementation of new methods and competences
for sustainable forms of engaging church communities and cooperation of church
institutions with specialised administrative authorities and services in the field of
state social policy and with other non-governmental organisations and associations.
3. In connection with this strategic development guideline the cooperation
agreement of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church with the Ministry of Labour and
Social Policy of 2011 should be concretised and complemented with new practical
content through the creation of mixed working groups and specialised committees to
coordinate the work and implementation of social activities. On its part the Church
should seek to actively initiate concrete projects and activities in the field of social

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care and social policy in accordance with the guidelines specified in the Agreement
between representatives of the specialised state authorities and administrative
services and church bodies and institutions at different levels.
4. One of the results of the surveys indicates the clear need for specialised
training for priests to focus on strengthening their personal organisational skills and
enhancing the capacity of parish communities for independent preparation of social
projects oriented towards using the opportunities of existing European programmes
for social and regional development, the potential for development of international
and cultural cooperation and creation of new organisational opportunities for
strengthening the capacity to implement social work in smaller parishes located in
underdeveloped rural areas or in less economically advanced regions in the country.
This finding is indicative of the increasingly clearer recognition of the European
dimension and European context of the social activity of the Church and of the need
to seek new opportunities for cooperation with other church organisations and
partners with a view to developing social projects and strengthening the cooperation
between local church communities.
5. Today the pan-European context is of extreme importance to the social
mission of the Church as it provides new opportunities for activation of church
services and sets new requirements and challenges to bishops, the priesthood and
the laity. Special education and new training will be needed for the Bulgarian
Orthodox Church, in its parish and pastoral ministry, to become an active
participant in the modern European processes of economic integration, social and
cultural cooperation and the conferring of new meaning upon the classical Christian
spiritual principles of evangelization and missionary witness in society.
Parish priests and parish communities should be prepared for their ministry
through acquisition of new skills and development of the necessary organisational
capacity to address many new and different challenges. Some of these are related to
the contemporary processes of migration, integration and globalisation leading to
increased migration and changes in the social and cultural environment of pluralism
and multiculturalism at national and European level.
The problems encountered by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in its pastoral
and social ministry in the modern civil society are related to the disruption of the
tradition of its social service and the difficulties associated with the missionary
revival and the presence of the Church in today‘s fast changing social conditions.
These problems can be overcome through a new type of training aimed at improving
the knowledge and skills for organizing and reinforcing the social ministry of the
Church and acquiring new competences for strengthening the institutional and
organisational capacity of church communities and institutions for implementation
of social work for active inclusion of socially marginalized groups.
For the needs of this specialised training and the practical application of
systematised experience some concrete tasks will have to be undertaken. These are:
1) Study and systematisation of good practices of the social work of
neighbouring local Orthodox churches and application of their experience in
Bulgaria. Training of Orthodox priests and clerical staff for implementation of
successful models of church ministry from the practices of the Romanian, Greek and
Serbian Orthodox churches and application of their models in similar social
conditions in Bulgaria.
2) Identification of good practices and models of the social work of the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church and training of priests for creation of similar initiatives

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and multiplication of their social experience in other dioceses and regions in the
country. This refers first and foremost to the well-known shelter of Father Ivan from
Novi Han, which in recent years has become one of the most characteristic signs of
the social work of the Church and a model for other similar parish initiatives. It will
not be an exaggeration to state that the shelter is the most exemplary and successful
modern initiative to build a sustainable model for the social work of the Bulgarian
Orthodox Church. As a result of such previous experience and regardless of the
difficulties and measures required to ensure its sustainability, this initiative of the
Church has become one of the most well-organised forms of institutionalised social
and charitable church care, reviving the traditions of the Orthodox Church and
providing us with new examples of successful social practices. The shelter is a classic
example of the tradition of social and charitable work of the Orthodox Church and at
the same time presents a modern model of construction and operation of the
entrusted system of a social and spiritual community of people living and working
together under the guidance of an Orthodox priest. In the history of Christianity this
typical social institution is associated with the work of St Basil the Great and the
organisation of the old monastic community and practice of common work and
cohabitation. The shelter as an initiative of the church is the result of Father Ivan‘s
personal efforts and spiritual ministry, but is can be developed as a model of
institutionalised social care of the Church. The purpose of the shelter is to provide
temporary or permanent refuge and food to homeless or destitute people. The good
practice and the organisation of this social undertaking of the Church can be studied
and implemented in other parishes and dioceses of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
3) Development of practical guidance for priests on the preparation of
European and international projects in the field of church social work. In recent
years there have emerged many initiatives in the field of church social work between
different churches or Christian communities. These show the need for a practical
cooperation between Orthodox priests and ecclesiastical and religious communities
of other Christian and non-Christians religions. In their pastoral and missionary
service Orthodox priests in Bulgaria need clear guidelines and a general manual on
the dialogue and cooperation with representatives of other Christian and non-
Christian religious communities. The data of the surveys show that parish priests
need additional special training in the field of the contemporary problems of the
relations of the Church with public institutions and the application of established
rules and practices of inter-Christian (ecumenical) dialogue and observation of the
principles of inter-religious dialogue.
4) Development of a training programme for Orthodox priests on working
with refugees and people seeking asylum. In the past months in Bulgaria there has
been a growing need for undertaking concrete charitable action in support of Syrian
refugees housed in numerous camps and centres in Bulgaria‘s major cities. These
charitable campaigns are joined by both Christians and representatives of the
Church and the senior clergy, hegumens of monasteries and parish priests and by
representatives of other religious communities.

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 3. STRATEGIC GUIDELINES FOR IMPROVING THE SOCIAL
AND CHARITABLE WORK OF THE ROMANIAN CHURCH

Spătărelu – Iancu Paula Smaranda

Keeping in mind the difficulties as well as the strengths of the Romanian

Orthodox Church (ROC) and its structures in terms of providing social assistance, and
in light of the strategic objectives defined by some dioceses with view to improving the
quality of the social and charity services provided by the Church, we believe the
following specific measures/actions should be undertaken:
1) Developing (annual) action plans in the social work sphere, on all levels
interested in doing social welfare work (dioceses, monasteries, archpriests) and
developing strategies in the social work sphere in all diocesan centres and non-
government organisation operating with ROC‘s approval in the field of social work. The
strategic planning process must be proactive and involve the organisations in order to
raise the level of accountability.
2) Developing plans for raising funds for social welfare work by diocesan centres
and non-government organisations operating with ROC‘s approval in the field of social
work. Increasing donor loyalty across donors.
3) Training a group of professionals for developing and implementing projects or
striking an ongoing collaboration with a company specialising in project development
and implementation.
4) Attracting large companies who organise social campaigns or wish to sponsor
ROC‘s social welfare and charity efforts by signing partnership agreements or
sponsorship agreements.
5) Establishing social enterprises in order to maintain ROC‘s social welfare and
charity work, keeping in mind a prospect for a favourable legal framework.
6) Signing partnership agreements between ROC‘s units and public or private
institutions involved in the field of social work.
7) Creating a web portal or forum to provide information for funding
opportunities for ROC‘s units.
8) Attracting volunteers to supplement the inadequate numbers of qualified
personnel in the fields of social assistance and accounting; appropriate motivation on
their part; signing volunteer service agreements in order to increase volunteers‘
accountability.
9) Creating a supporting structure for priests who are active in the field of social
and charity work which would allow them to share information and exchange
experience. The training aspect thereof should include improving participants‘ skills in
various fields, such as: strategic and operational planning of activities;
analysis/assessment of social needs, SWOT analysis, communication; fundraising.
10) Organising periodic exchange of experience initiatives between dioceses with
a view to improving the quality of services offered and standardising working
procedures.
11) Developing a database, on the diocesan centre level, containing all social
service providers, both certified and not certified, in order to facilitate communication
between them.

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 12) Creating a network among the parishes/monasteries doing social welfare
work.
13) Supporting ROC‘s units that wish to be certified as social service providers
with the specialist staff on the diocesan centre level.
14) Preparing standardised documents for doing social welfare and charity work,
at least on the diocesan centre level.
15) Developing a working plan, on the diocesan centre level, aimed at improving
mediation in social welfare and charity work in the diocese.
16) Preparing standardised tools for donation reporting.
17) Standardising the procedures for internal communication carried out both
among the units within a diocese and among the separate dioceses.
18) Creating charity committees.
19) A more active participation of monasteries in social welfare and charity work.
In the past, many monasteries played a significant social and humanitarian role. As
early as the 15th century, big monasteries had ―infirmaries‖ where elderly and sick
monks as well as some laymen were cared for: Putna (15th century), Arges, Bistrita in
Oltenia, Cozia (16th century), Dragomirna, Sadova, Hurezi (17th century), Coltea and
Antim in Bucharest, St. Panteleimon, near Bucharest, St. Spyridon in Iasi, Prophet
Samuel in Focsani, Precista Mare in Roman, Neamt, Cernica (18th century), etc. They
all did substantial charity work. 41
20) Establishing diocesan deposit funds to be used for intervention in
emergencies, transferable between diocesan centres, and a partnership with the
Emergency Inspectorates. Developing a procedure for intervention in a case of
emergency. Building a database with volunteers trained to intervene in emergencies.

41 41 Pr. Prof. Dr. Mircea Pacurariu, Inceputurile vietii crestine pe teritoriul tarii noastre, Scurt istoric
al Bisericii Ortodoxe Romane, www.osmth.ro.

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 ANNEX
EU FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

1. THE EUROPEAN UNION POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES 2014-2020 FOR

THE HUMAN AND SOCIAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHILDREN AND
YOUTHS AT RISK OF EXCLUSION

Carla Cavallini

The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political partnership

between 28 European countries that together cover much of the continent. The EU
was created in the aftermath of the Second World War. The first steps were to foster
economic cooperation: the idea being that countries who trade with one another
become economically interdependent and so more likely to avoid conflict. But beside
that one of the EU‘s main goals is to promote human rights both internally and
around the world. Human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and
respect for human rights: these are the core values of the EU. Since the 2009 signing
of the Treaty of Lisbon, the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights brings all these
rights together in a single document. The EU's institutions are legally bound to
uphold them, as are EU governments whenever they apply EU law. In this frame
children and youth as future generations, are at the heart of several policies and
programmes of intervention promoted by the European Union. A brief review of the
main policies and programmes 2014-2020 for the human and social skills
development of the children and youths at risk of exclusion is described hereafter.

The European Social Fund 2014-2020

In October 2011, the European Commission proposed new priorities and rules
for the European Social Fund (ESF) over the next programming period 2014-2020.
These will allow the Fund to continue providing concrete support to people who need
help to find a job, or to progress in their current job all over the European Union
territory.
The European Commission proposal was part of an overall legislative
package for the Union's future Cohesion Policy 2014-2020.
Since 1957 the role of the European Social Fund is to increase employment
opportunities, promote education and lifelong learning, enhance social inclusion,
contribute to combating poverty, and improve the capacity of public administrations
to serve citizens and job-seekers better. The new provisions ruling the Fund
reinforces its role:
 There would be a minimum share - higher than before - of the budget
allocated to each category of regions: at least 25% for less-developed regions,
40% for transition regions and 52% for more-developed ones. This share of
funding corresponds to at least €84 billion for the ESF budget, compared to
the current €75 billion.
 The EU Member States or EU Regions will have to concentrate ESF funding
on a limited number of objectives and investment priorities in line with the

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 Europe 2020 Strategy, in order to reach a critical mass and increase its
impact.
 A minimum share of 20% of the ESF should be dedicated to social inclusion
actions.
 There is greater emphasis on combating youth unemployment, promoting
active and healthy ageing, and supporting the most disadvantaged groups
and marginalised communities such as Roma. The Youth Employment
Initiative would particularly support young people not in education,
employment or training by integrating them into the labour market.
 More support will be provided for social innovation, i.e. testing and scaling up
innovative solutions to address social needs – for example, improving social
inclusion.
 Greater participation by social partners and civil society in implementing
ESF activities, and in particular participation by non-governmental
organisations (NGOs), will be encouraged through capacity-building, the
promotion of community-led local development strategies and the
simplification of the delivery system. Simpler rules will govern the
reimbursement of ESF projects, in particular for smaller beneficiaries who
make up at least 50% of recipients of ESF funding - NGOs, small and
medium-sized enterprises and others.
 Equipment linked to investments in social and human capital will become
eligible for support from the ESF – for example, computers for schools.

The ESF main objectives under which every single EU Member State or
Region has to develop its own national or regional strategy are:
 Access to employment for job-seekers and inactive people, including the long-
term unemployed and people far from the labour market, also through local
employment initiatives and support for labour mobility;
 Sustainable integration into the labour market of young people, in particular
those not in employment, education or training (NEET), including young
people at risk of social exclusion and young people from marginalised
communities, also through the implementation of the Youth Guarantee;
 Self-employment, entrepreneurship and business creation including
innovative micro, small and medium sized enterprises;
 Equality between men and women in all areas, including in access to
employment, career progression, reconciliation of work and private life and
promotion of equal pay for equal work;
 Adaptation of workers, enterprises and entrepreneurs to change;
 Active and healthy ageing;
 Modernisation of labour market institutions, such as public and private
employment services, and improving the matching of labour market needs,
including through actions that enhance transnational labour mobility as well
as through mobility schemes and better cooperation between institutions and
relevant stakeholders;
 Active inclusion, including with a view to promoting equal opportunities and
active participation, and improving employability;
 Socio-economic integration of marginalised communities such as the Roma;
 Combating all forms of discrimination and promoting equal opportunities;

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  Enhancing access to affordable, sustainable and high-quality services,
including health care and social services of general interest;
 Promoting social entrepreneurship and vocational integration in social
enterprises and the social and solidarity economy in order to facilitate access
to employment;
 Community-led local development strategies;
 Reducing and preventing early school-leaving and promoting equal access to
good quality early-childhood, primary and secondary education including
formal, non-formal and informal learning pathways for reintegrating into
education and training;
 Improving the quality and efficiency of, and access to, tertiary and equivalent
education with a view to increasing participation and attainment levels,
especially for disadvantaged groups;
 Enhancing equal access to lifelong learning for all age groups in formal, non-
formal and informal settings, upgrading the knowledge, skills and
competences of the workforce, and promoting flexible learning pathways
including through career guidance and validation of acquired competences;
 Improving the labour market relevance of education and training systems,
facilitating the transition from education to work, and strengthening
vocational education and training systems and their quality, including
through mechanisms for skills anticipation, adaptation of curricula and the
establishment and development of work-based learning systems, including
dual learning systems and apprenticeship schemes.

Main Innovations for EU Cohesion Policy Funds

All EU regions will continue to receive financial support within three defined
categories:

 Less-developed regions whose GDP per capita is below 75% of the Union
average, will continue to be the top priority for the policy.
 Transition regions whose GDP per capita is between 75% and 90% of the EU-
28 average.
 More-developed regions whose GDP per capita is above 90% of the EU-28
average.
The second category - covering 51 regions and more than 72 million people - eases
the transition of regions which have become more competitive in recent years, but
still need targeted support. As of 2014, 20 regions are forecast to move out of the
current ‗convergence‘ objective (less-developed regions), reflecting the success of
Cohesion Policy.

Partnership Agreements between the European Commission and EU Member

States will set out the national commitments required to deliver Europe 2020
objectives. ESF investments will be fully aligned with Europe 2020 objectives and
targets for employment, education and poverty reduction.
The Common Strategic Framework setting out the EU's top priorities will
apply to all European Structural and Investment Funds. The EU countries will be
allowed to combine European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund
and Cohesion Fund financing in ‗multi-fund‘ programmes to improve coordination on

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the ground and achieve integrated development. The total budget available is €
366.8 billion.

The new EU programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI)

The EU programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) has a
budget of € 919,469 million for the 2014-20 period.
EaSI integrates and extends the coverage of three existing programmes: Progress
(Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity), EURES (European Employment
Services) and the European Progress Microfinance Facility, which will be allocated
respectively 61%, 18% and 21% of the budget. EaSI will contribute to the Europe
2020 Strategy for Jobs and Growth.
EaSI will support EU countries efforts in the design and implementation of
employment and social reforms at European, national as well as regional and local
levels by means of policy coordination, the identification, analysis and sharing of
best practices. It will notably benefit national, regional and local authorities as well
as social partners and civil society organisations.
Concrete projects and activities will help to test reforms on the ground before
the possible scaling up of the most successful, including via the ESF. In this context,
EaSI will devote around € 100 million to launch such experiments in the most
critical policy areas such as youth employment or inclusion of disadvantaged groups.
By integrating EURES within EaSI, the Commission will pursue the successful Your
First EURES Job and launch dedicated mobility schemes to facilitate job search and
promote job matching at EU level. Labour mobility can be a powerful adjustment
mechanism to address the imbalances European labour markets are facing - in
particular labour and skills shortages co-existing with high unemployment.
Finally, the Microfinance Instrument and the New Financial Instrument for Social
Enterprise Support will offer a platform for experimentation and can be scaled up by
Member States, including with support from the ESF.
Together with the ESF, the Fund for the European Aid for the most Deprived
and the European Globalisation adjustment Fund, EaSI forms an important pillar of
the EU Initiative for Employment and Social Inclusion 2014-2020.

Programme for Modernising Employment and Social Policies (Progress)

Progress supports and disseminates comparative analytical information in
the field of employment, facilitates information sharing and dialogue, provides policy
makers and implementers with financial support, to test social and labour market
policy reforms. It also supports the implementation of EU legislation in the field of
employment, social policy and working conditions.
For the period 2014-2020, the 'Progress' element of EaSI will continue its current
activities (analysis, mutual learning and grants) and will have a specific budget for
social innovation and social policy experimentation, i.e. testing of innovative policies
on a small scale, with the aim that the most successful ones can be up-scaled,
including with ESF support.
The 61% of the total budget allocation shall go for 'Progress' in the period 2014-2020.

EURES
EURES provides information and advice to job seekers wishing to work in
another EU country. In June 2013, the EURES portal hosted around 1.350.000 job
vacancies, over 1.100.000 CVs and around 31.000 registered employers. During the

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last 12 months 21 million different visitors used its services. Around 100.000
jobseekers per year get a job or a job offer via the EURES Portal.
With the new Programme, the overall EURES system will be strengthened beyond
2013:
 the EURES core activities at cross-border level will be financed under the
EaSI Programme, while the national EURES activities can be financed under
the European Social Fund in order to support workers' mobility and help
companies recruit abroad.
 at EU level, the EURES Portal will offer modernised information and skills-
matching tools for jobseekers and employers. EURES will be used to create
and develop new targeted mobility schemes. These will fill bottleneck and
niche vacancies and will help specific groups of workers and countries which
will become recipients of mobile workers. It will notably allow for the
development of Your First EURES Job scheme. This is currently being carried
out as a pilot project, under the form of a Preparatory Action, to help young
people (18-30) find a job in another EU Country, while encouraging SMEs,
the largest group of employers in the EU, to offer young people work.
The overall EURES budget is 18% of the total EaSI allocation, with around
one third of the budget for modernising the EURES Portal and one third for the
development of the targeted mobility schemes.

Microfinance facility and Social Entrepreneurship

The current European Progress Microfinance Facility was launched in 2010
to help people who face difficulties in securing a traditional bank loan, get better
access to microcredit and become self-employed or set up their own business. It
finances loans of less than €25,000 for unemployed people, people at a risk of losing
their jobs or people from disadvantaged groups, for instance young or older people or
migrants. The Microfinance facility does not provide direct financing to micro-
entrepreneurs or individuals, but it works through microcredit providers at national,
regional or local level. So far, transactions have been signed with 26 microcredit
providers, in 15 Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Cyprus,
Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Slovenia and the UK.
The new programme will:
 extend the support given to microcredit providers under the current
European Progress Microfinance Facility;
 provide funding for capacity-building of microfinance institutions;
 Support the development of the social investment market and
facilitate access to finance for social enterprises, i.e. businesses whose
primary purpose is social, rather than to maximise profit distribution
to private owners or shareholders.
The total budget for the microfinance and social entrepreneurship axis is
around the 21% of the EaSI budget.

Key actions on youth employment in the EU

 Communication: Working together for Europe's young people – A call to
action on youth unemployment (2013) to accelerate the implementation of the

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 Youth Guarantee and the investment in young people, and develop EU-level
tools to help EU countries and firms recruit young people.
 Youth Employment Initiative (2013) reinforces and accelerates measures
outlined in the Youth Employment Package. The Youth Employment
Initiative (YEI) shall support the fight against youth unemployment in
eligible regions of the Union. It shall target all young persons under the age
of 25 not in employment, education or training (NEET), residing in eligible
regions, who are inactive or unemployed including the long-term unemployed,
and whether or not registered as seeking work. On a voluntary basis, EU
Member States may decide to extend the target group to include young
persons under the age of 30. For the purpose of the YEI for 2014-2015,
"eligible regions" are those NUTS level 2 regions that have youth
unemployment rates for young persons aged 15 to 24 of more than 25% in
2012 and, for EU Member States where the youth unemployment rate has
increased by more than 30% in 2012, NUTS level 2 regions that have youth
unemployment rates of more than 20% in 2012. In agreement with the
European Commission, Member States may decide to allocate a limited
amount not exceeding 10% of the funds under the YEI to young people
residing in sub-regions which experience high youth unemployment levels
and which are outside the eligible NUTS level 2 regions.
 Youth Employment Package (2012) is the follow-up to the actions on youth
laid out in the wider Employment Package and includes:
o A proposal to Member States to establish a Youth Guarantee –
adopted by the Council in April 2013
o Second-stage consultation of EU social partners on a quality
framework for traineeships
o The European Alliance for Apprenticeships and ways to reduce
obstacles to mobility for young people.
 Youth on the Move is a comprehensive package of policy initiatives on
education and employment for young people in Europe
o Youth Opportunities Initiative (2011) includes actions to drive down
youth unemployment
o Your first EURES Job aims to help young people to fill job vacancies
throughout the EU.
 EU Skills Panorama is a EU-wide tool gathering information on skills needs,
forecasting and developments in the labour market.
 Measures in the field of education and culture

ERARSMUS +
Erasmus+ is the new programme for Education, Training, Youth, and Sport of
the European Union for the period 2014-2020.
The Erasmus+ programme aims to boost skills and employability, as well as
modernising Education, Training, and Youth work. The seven year programme will
have a budget of € 14.7 billion.
Erasmus+ will support transnational partnerships among Education,
Training, and Youth institutions and organisations to foster cooperation and bridge

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the worlds of Education and work in order to tackle the skills gaps we are facing in
Europe.
It will also support national efforts to modernise Education, Training, and
Youth systems. In the field of Sport, there will be support for grassroots projects and
cross-border challenges such as combating match-fixing, doping, violence and
racism.
Erasmus+ brings together as an integrated programme seven existing EU
programmes in the fields of Education, Training, and Youth and for the very first
time it will provide support for Sport.
Erasmus+ aims to increase the quality and relevance of qualifications and
skills. Two-thirds of its funding will provide grants for more than 4 million people to
study, train, work or volunteer abroad in 2014-2020. The period abroad can range
from a few days up to a year.
Erasmus+ is open to students, teachers, apprentices, volunteers, youth
leaders and people working in grassroots' sport. It will also provide funding for
partnerships between educational institutions, youth organisations, enterprises,
local and regional authorities and NGOs, as well as support for reforms in EU
Member States to modernise education and training and to promote innovation,
entrepreneurship and employability.
There will be greater support for IT platforms such as e-twinning, to connect
schools and other learning providers via the internet.
Erasmus+ will contribute to developing the European dimension in sport by helping
to address cross-border threats such as match fixing and doping. It will also support
transnational projects involving organisations in grassroots sport, promoting, for
example good governance, social inclusion, dual careers and physical activity for all
ages.
Erasmus+ will contribute to fighting youth unemployment by helping young
people to improve key skills such as proficiency in a foreign language,
communication, adaptability or in learning how to live and work with people of
different nationalities and cultures.
The programme will facilitate better cooperation between universities and
employers to ensure that students benefit from curricula which are relevant to the
skills they need in the world of work. In addition, it will help education
establishments and youth organisations to develop closer links with enterprise. It
will also support policy reform in priority areas, such as digital skills and increased
labour market relevance of vocational education and training.
Erasmus+ also emphasises the importance of informal learning like the
European Voluntary Service.

Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme

The general objective of this new EU Programme shall be to contribute to the
further development of an area where equality and the rights of persons as
enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and in the
international human rights conventions to which the Union has acceded, are
promoted, protected and effectively implemented.
The specific objectives are:
 To promote the effective implementation of the principle of non-
discrimination on grounds of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief,

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 disability, age or sexual orientation, and to respect the principle of non-
discrimination;
 To prevent and combat racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of
intolerance;
 To promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities
 To promote equality between women and men
 To prevent and combat all forms of violence against children, young people
and women, as well as violence against other groups at risk, in particular
groups at risk of violence in close relationships, and to protect victims of such
violence;
 To promote and protect the rights of the child;
 To contribute to ensuring the highest level of protection of privacy and
personal data;
 To promote and enhance the exercise of rights deriving from citizenship of
the Union;
 To enable individuals in their capacity as consumers or entrepreneurs in the
internal market to enforce their rights deriving from Union law, having
regard to the projects funded under the Consumer Programme.
Open to any legal organisation the Programme supports analytical activities,
such as the collection of data and statistics; the development of common
methodologies and, where appropriate, indicators or benchmarks; studies,
researches, analyses and surveys; evaluations; the elaboration and publication of
guides, reports and educational material; workshops, seminars, experts' meetings
and conferences; raining activities, such as staff exchanges, workshops, seminars,
train-the-trainer events and the development of online training tools or other
training modules.
Mutual learning, cooperation, awareness-raising and dissemination activities,
such as the identification of, and exchanges concerning, good practices, innovative
approaches and experiences; the organisation of peer reviews and mutual learning;
the organisation of conferences, seminars, media campaigns, including in the online
media, information campaigns, including institutional communication on the
political priorities of the Union as far as they relate to the objectives of the
Programme; the compilation and publication of materials to disseminate information
about the Programme and its results; the development, operation and maintenance
of systems and tools using information and communication technologies.
The Programme provides support for main actors whose activities contribute to
the implementation of the objectives of the Programme, such as support for NGOs in
the implementation of actions with European added value, support for key European
actors, European-level networks and harmonised services of social value; support for
Member States in the implementation of Union law and policies; and support for
networking activities at European level among specialised bodies and entities as
well as national, regional and local authorities and NGOs, including support by way
of action grants or operating grant. The total budget available corresponds to
439.473.000 euro for the period 2014-2020.

National Roma Integration Strategies: Common European Framework

The European Union invites its Member States to adopt national strategies
aimed at improving the economic and social situation of Roma by 2020. Roma is a
term used as an umbrella to refer to groups of people such as Sinti, Travellers, Kalé,

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Gens du Voyage, etc., whether sedentary or not. The European Commission presents
a framework of common European goals that complement the objectives of the
Europe 2020 strategy and the 28 Member States have to propose integration
strategies or packages of policy measures aimed at improving access by Roma:
 to education, so that each child at least completes primary school;
 to employment, health care, housing, and basic services (particularly public
water, gas and electricity networks), so as to reduce existing disparities with
the rest of the population.
The European Commission is to carry out an assessment of these strategies and
monitor their implementation, by means of a annual monitoring mechanism
involving various stakeholders.
Lastly, the European Commission encourages reforms and the strengthening of
the European Platform for Roma Inclusion.
National goals for Roma integration should be set, taking account of needs,
constraints and the diverse situations in each EU Member State.
The preparation of integration strategies is to take place with the
participation of the stakeholders concerned, in particular local and regional
authorities, representatives of civil society and Roma.
A single national contact point is to be created in each Member State to
monitor action.
Sources of funding for national strategies must be clearly identified. Such
funding may come from national budgets, structural funds or other European
funding (such as the Progress microfinance instrument, the Social Innovation
Europe initiative, EaSI etc.) or international grants.

For more information:

Regulation (EU) no 1304/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17
December 2013 on the European Social Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC)
No 1081/2006
European Union Official Journal L 347, 20/12/2013, p. 470–486

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on a

European Union Programme for Social Change and Innovation.
COM(2011) 609 final

Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the document Proposal for a

Council Recommendation on Establishing a Youth Guarantee
COM(2012) 729 final

Youth Employment Initiative: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-

13_en.htm?locale=en

Regulation (EU) No 1296/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of

11 December 2013 on a European Union Programme for Employment and Social
Innovation ("EaSI") and amending Decision No 283/2010/EU establishing a
European Progress Microfinance Facility for employment and social inclusion
European Union Official Journal L 347, 20/12/2013, p. 238–252

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Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11
December 2013 establishing 'Erasmus+': the Union programme for education,
training, youth and sport and repealing Decisions No 1719/2006/EC, No
1720/2006/EC and No 1298/2008/EC
European Union Official Journal L 347, 20/12/2013, p. 50–73

Regulation (EU) No 1381/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17

December 2013 establishing a Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme for the
period 2014 to 2020
European Union Official Journal L 354, 28/12/2013, p. 62–72

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the
European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 5
April 2011 – An EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to2020
COM(2011) 173 final

European Social Fund Page: http://ec.europa.eu/esf/main.jsp?catId=62&langId=en

Youth Employment Page: http://ec.europa.eu/social/youthemployment
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1045&langId=en
European Commissioner László Andor's website:
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/andor/index_en.htm
László Andor on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/LaszloAndorEU
The European Commission's free e-mail newsletter on employment, social affairs
and inclusion: http://ec.europa.eu/social/e-newsletter

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 2. THE EUROPEAN FUNDS IN BULGARIA (2014–2020)

Diana Tyurkedzhieva

This study describes the opportunities for project funding with resources from
European Union funds aimed at providing support to Bulgaria. It includes analyses
of the EU Europe 2020 strategy and of the major topical objectives and priorities set
out in the Partnership Agreement of the Republic of Bulgaria which outlines the
support from the European Structural and Investment Funds for the 2014–2020
periods.
The study provides a summary of the more important operational
programmes for the 2014–2020 programming period, particularly those under which
representatives of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church are eligible beneficiaries,
including local branches of churches, Christian non-government organisations,
theological universities and seminaries, etc.

Europe 2020
The EU Europe 2020 strategy was proposed by the European Commission in
March 2010 and adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in June 2010.
It sets out the specific targets to be achieved by 2020 by European Union Member
States in areas such as employment, education, energy efficiency and innovation in
order to move beyond the financial crisis and support European states on their way
to economic growth. The Strategy puts forward three major priorities: 1) smart
growth (knowledge- and innovation-based economy); 2) sustainable growth
(supporting a shift towards a greener, more competitive and more resource-efficient
economy); 3) inclusive growth (promoting an economy with a high employment rate,
thus ensuring social and territorial cohesion).
The document proposes the following main targets for the EU:
7. 75% employment rate of the population aged 20-64;
8. Investing 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) of the European Union
in research and development;
9. Combating global warming – including reducing carbon emissions by
additional 30% if conditions permit;
10. Reducing the school drop out rate to less than 10 % and increasing the
proportion of young people with tertiary degrees to over 40%;
11. Combating poverty and social exclusion – reducing the number of
people living in poverty or threatened by poverty and social exclusion
by 20 million.

Implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy in Bulgaria

In order to achieve the objectives and priorities listed above, Bulgaria
committed to the Europe 2020 targets. Thus, the European Union objectives
translated into national targets within the National Reform Programme. It is a
document presenting the country‘s policies and measures to sustain growth and
employment and to reach the Europe 2020 targets.
Bulgaria‘s National Reform Programme was updated in 2013 and is based on

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the macroeconomic framework for the 2013–2020 period and the country-specific
recommendations made by the Council of Europe for Bulgaria on 10 July 2012. The
instrument follows the objectives underpinning the Europe 2020 strategy and the
recommendations made by the Council, which is why its main target is: ―reach an
employment rate of 76% for the population aged 20–64 by 2020‖. A specific sub-
target established in the Programme is reducing the youth unemployment rate
(among 15–29 year-olds) to 7% and increasing the employment rate of older people
(aged 55–64) to 53% by 2020. The second national target included in the instrument
is increasing the expenditure on research and development to 1.5% of GDP by 2020.
Another target put forward in Bulgaria's National Reform Programme is decreasing
the share of early-school leavers from 12.5% to 11% and increasing the share of the
people aged 30–34 with completed higher education to at least 36% by 2020. To that
end, a draft National Strategy for Prevention and Decreasing the School Drop Out
Rate and the Share of Early School Leavers was developed in 2012. The measures it
provides are designed to create opportunities for reintegration of early school leavers
through validation of informal education and independent learning outcomes.
In the field of higher education, and with a view to tying it to the job market, a
project aimed at updating universities‘ programmes and courses was launched
which is run jointly with employers‘ representatives and is expected to affect 80% of
students in 40 higher education institutions.
Bulgaria is one of the countries where the risk of poverty or social exclusion
is higher than the EU average. Thus, one of the major national targets set out in
Bulgaria‘s National Reform Programme is reducing the number of people living in
poverty by 260,000 by 2020, including reducing the number of children living in
poverty by 78,000; reducing the number of persons aged 65 and higher living in
poverty by 52,000; reducing the number of unemployed people living in poverty by
78,000 and reducing the number of employed people living in poverty by 52,000.
Active inclusion in the labour market, development of inter-sector services for social
inclusion, ensuring sustainable and adequate social assistance payments, and
programmes and policies for early child development are emphasised as key areas.
The deinstitutionalisation of the child care system will continue over the next
programming period, with its implementation funded by combining resources from
the state budget and the European Structural Funds for the 2014–2020
programming period. The Programme includes measures for improving access to
social and healthcare services and for boosting the deinstitutionalisation process by
investing in social and healthcare infrastructure, including construction of public
housing. This is why the Partnership Agreement of the Republic of Bulgaria
outlining the support from the European Structural and Investment Funds for the
2014–2020 period covers several core priorities, among which education,
employment, social inclusion and healthcare for inclusive growth, research and
innovation, green economy, good governance and access to high quality
administrative services are ranked highest.
For the achievement of the abovementioned priorities, several topical
objectives were established with a Council of Ministries Resolution of 25 April 2012
as part of Bulgaria‘s implementation of the Cohesion Policy, the Common
Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy for the 2014–2020 period.
Those objectives include enhancing research, technological development and
innovation; improving access to information and communication technologies as well
as their use and quality; increasing the competitiveness of small and medium

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enterprises and of the agricultural sector and the fisheries sector; promoting climate
change adaptation and risk prevention and management; conservation and
preservation of the environment and encouraging resource efficiency; creating
measures for cultural heritage preservation; promoting sustainable transportation;
promoting sustainable and quality employment and supporting workforce mobility;
investing in education, training and professional qualification for skills and lifelong
learning; increasing the institutional capacity of public authorities and stakeholders,
and effective public administration.
The continued implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy over the next
programming period (2014–2020) will be sustained with support from the European
Social Fund (ESF), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion
Fund and other European Union funds. Each European region can benefit from
ERDF and ESF, with support for less developed regions remaining an important
priority for the cohesion policy. Here we will briefly introduce some of the more
important funds operating in Bulgaria and the assistance they will be providing in
the country.
One of the most important funds which aim to strengthen economic,
territorial and social cohesion in the EU by coordinating imbalances between its
regions is the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). During the new
programming period its funding will be focused on research and innovation,
improving the access to and quality of information and communication technologies,
provision of services supporting small and medium enterprises, healthcare,
education and social infrastructure, sustainable urban development, etc.
EU‘s main financial instrument for investing in people is the European Social Fund
(EFS). The financial aid afforded by the Fund will increase job opportunities for
European citizens, promote better education and improve the situation of the most
vulnerable populations at risk of poverty.
Another financial instrument of the EU is the European Agricultural Fund
for Rural Development (EAFRD). It will support the European rural development
policy and finance programmes for rural development in all EU Member States and
regions.
Bulgaria is expected to receive approximately 16.5 billion BGN during the
2014–2020 programming period for the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy
and Bulgaria‘s National Reform Programme. It is estimated that about 25% of those
funds will be allocated to the European Social Fund and the rest will be allocated to
the European Regional Development Fund.

Operational programmes in Bulgaria (2014–2020)

During the 2014–2020 period the abovementioned European funds will be
directed towards the implementation of the following operational programmes in
Bulgaria:
1 Operational Programme ―Regions in Growth‖;
2 Operational Programme ―Human Resources Development‖;
3 Operational Programme ―Science and Education for Smart Growth‖;
4 Operational Programme ―Innovation and Competitiveness‖;
5 Operational Programme ―Transportation and Transport Infrastructure‖;
6 Operational Programme ―Environment‖;
7 Operational Programme ―Good Governance‖;
8 Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Programme;

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 9 Rural Development Programme.

For the purpose of our study we will address four operational programmes (OP)
and the opportunities they provide in the 2014–2020 programming period: the
―Regions in Growth‖ OP, the ―Human Resources Development‖ OP, the ―Science and
Education for Smart Growth‖ OP and the Rural Development Programme. We will
outline the Priority Axes of the programmes open to representatives of the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church, including representatives of local branches of churches,
Christian non-government organisations, theological universities and seminaries in
Bulgaria, etc.

―Regions in Growth‖ Operational Programme 2014–2020

Higher education institutions in Bulgaria are eligible beneficiaries under
Priority Axis 2: ―Regional Educational Infrastructure‖ of the 2014–2020 ―Regions in
Growth‖ OP which provides for investments in education, skills and lifelong
learning. One of the Priority Axis‘s specific objectives is to decrease the share of
early school leavers and to increase the share of people holding tertiary degrees
through investments in regional educational infrastructure. The total budget
provided for the implementation of the Priority Axis is 131 million Euros.
Investments will be focused primarily on construction, reconstruction and repair of
state and municipal schools of national and regional importance and higher
education institutions, including adjacent campuses and dormitories, as well as on
supply and installation of equipment and furnishing for schools, adopting energy
efficiency measures, improving disability access to the premises in question, etc.
Religious institutions and non-government organisations are listed as potential
beneficiaries under Priority Axis 5: ―Regional Tourism‖ of the Programme. This
Priority will be providing support for projects for the development of natural,
cultural and historical sites of national or international importance, such as
restoration, preservation, exhibition, socialisation, equipment, introduction of
techniques and programmes for interpretation and animation, etc., including
restoration, preservation, exhibition, renovation and construction of religious sites of
national or international importance. The Priority also makes provision for
investments for the development of tourist infrastructure (tourist trails, climbing
routes, horseback riding trails and cycling routes, picnic spots, direction signs,
visitor information centres, playgrounds, etc.), as well as organisation of additional,
non-infrastructural activities in the area of the sites, marketing and advertising,
regional marketing, etc. The total budget for this Priority is 127 million Euros.

―Human Resources Development‖ Operational Programme 2014–2020

The first core Priority of the Programme is improving access to employment
and job quality and seeks to affect job seeking young people, people who want to
start their own business, the unemployed, disadvantaged populations, employed
people, self-employed people and others. Achieving this Priority would improve the
access to employment opportunities for job seekers and discouraged (inactive)
workers, including the long-term unemployed and people far from the labour
market, and would create an opportunity for sustainable integration in the labour
market for young job seekers, including young people who are at risk for social
exclusion and marginalised communities. The investments to be made are aimed at
encouraging entrepreneurship and starting one‘s own business, and at improving

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equal access to lifelong learning opportunities for people of all ages, upgrading
workers‘ knowledge base, skills and competences, as well as fostering flexible
learning processes, including by supporting professional orientation and recognition
and validation of acquired competences. Another priority set in the Programme is
better adaptation of workers, enterprises and entrepreneurs to changes by providing
support for enterprises human resources adaptation in priority industries, as well as
support for improving labour conditions and organisation in enterprises and the
adjustment of workers, enterprises and entrepreneurs by encouraging joint action by
the social partners.
Activities eligible for funding under this Priority are intermediary services in
the labour market, professional briefing and consulting, psychological support,
motivational training, vocational training, qualification upgrading training or
training for acquiring key competences, entrepreneurial, managerial and business
skills, employment provision, training people registered with the unemployment
office, promotion and financial aid for starting and developing own businesses,
specialised consulting for the self-employed, supporting practices for upgrading
human resource management systems in enterprises and many more. Eligible
beneficiaries under this Priority are educational and training institutions,
professional orientation centres, career centres, non-government organisations and
others.
Social and healthcare service providers, social partners, employers,
educational and training organisations and institutions, non-government
organisations and social enterprises, as well as registered branches of religious
denominations may benefit from the funding provided under the Second Priority
Axis of the ―Fighting Poverty and Fostering Social Inclusion‖ Programme. This Axis
aims to encourage the social and economic integration of marginalised communities
and improve employment access. The measures prescribed under this Axis are
designed to support services for social inclusion and healthcare by applying
integrated measures for families with children, including children with disabilities.
Another specific objective of this Priority is provision of services facilitating social
and professional integration of vulnerable populations by promoting enterprises in
the social economy sector. The Axis also provides for investments designed to
encourage social entrepreneurship and professional integration in social enterprises
with a view to facilitating employment access. Projects which improve or facilitate
access to social and healthcare services and services for social inclusion will be
supported. Another eligible type of projects are the ones contributing to the
replacement of the institutional model of child care, elderly care and care for people
with disabilities with social services in the community, in order to improve
vulnerable populations‘ quality of life. Support will also be provided for initiatives
which promote prevention of the practice of leaving children at specialised
institutions, as well as programmes for public support and social inclusion of
persons leaving specialised institutions, development of a foster care system and
other preventative and alternative forms of care and services. The main target
groups identified under this Priority Axis are representatives of the Roma
community, foreign-born people, people at risk for and/or victims of discrimination,
people living in places with low population density, rural and remote areas, parts of
cities, towns or villages where there is a concentration of problems creating a risk of
poverty, social exclusion and marginalisation (high unemployment rate, low income,
limited access to public services, territorial segregation, spatial isolation, etc.),

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people with disabilities and elderly people who need assistance with daily activities;
families with children, including children with disabilities; children and adults at
risk; children, young people and adults, including with disabilities, put up in
specialised institutions, and their families and other, specialised enterprises for
people with disabilities.
Priority Axis 4 of the ―Transnational Cooperation‖ Programme is particularly
relevant to this study. Employers, social partners, non-government organisations,
educational, training and research organisations and others are eligible for funding
under this Axis. The objective of this Priority Axis is to foster transnational
cooperation in the fields of the labour market, social inclusion, healthcare, equal
opportunities and non-discrimination and to strengthen institutional capacity. The
second major objective is to bolster cooperation between stakeholders in the Danube
region in the ―Investment in People and Skills‖ priority area of the European Union
Danube Region Strategy. The Programme will lend support to projects involving
development of specific analyses and studies of the experience of other Member
States; exchange of personnel, project and programme managers, trainers,
stakeholder representatives and target group representatives; organisation of public
events, seminars, working discussions and trainings designed to promote exchange
of experience, information, good practices and innovative approaches between
partners and other stakeholders; increasing partners‘ and stakeholders‘ capacity for
development, application, monitoring and assessment of good practices and
innovative approaches; building and/or inclusion in partner networks, twinning;
joint or coordinated conduction of social experiments through adapting and/or
validating innovative models, practices, services and support systems from other
countries.

―Science and Education for Smart Growth‖ Operational Programme 2014–

2020
This Operational Programme is concerned with projects related to building
quality human resource for scientific research. It provides for measures for
improving the access to and quality of the education system and for turning it
towards the actual economic needs at its every stage. The implementation of the
Programme seeks to enhance research, technological development and innovation, to
promote social inclusion and fight poverty and all forms of discrimination, and
makes provision for investments in education and training, including vocational
training for skills and lifelong learning. Projects funded under this Programme
involve activities for building centres of excellence and competency centres in
priority areas; building and upgrading a national research infrastructure and
developing regional partner structures within European research infrastructures are
also envisaged in the Programme. Support will be provided for modernising the
research infrastructure and existing teaching and research laboratories of research
institutions and higher education institutions which produce research and studies in
areas corresponding to the national priorities in science and innovation, and
structures supporting research and innovation; for creating and developing regional
research infrastructures, including unique collections and archives and national
units. Universities and institutes will receive assistance to optimise the network of
research institutes and universities by building a research and teaching-and-
research infrastructure, to improve their teaching and social conditions, etc. Other
projects eligible for assistance under the Programme include strategic research

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programmes; applied research related to purchasing new facilities, equipment,
materials, consumables, etc. or upgrading existing ones, including remuneration of
participants, providing assistance for participation of Bulgarian scientific
organisations and universities in various European technological platforms, etc.
Eligible beneficiaries under the Programme are research organisations, research
institutes, higher education institutions and/or their major branches, centres of
excellence, competency centres, etc.
Priority Axis 2 of the Programme is called ―Education and Lifelong Learning‖.
The goal of Investment Priority 1 of Priority Axis ―Prevention and Reducing Early
School Leaving and Promoting Equal Access to High-Quality Pre-School, Primary
and Secondary Education‖ is to improve children‘s and students‘ performance in
acquiring key competences related to pre-school and school education and to include
and keep children and students in the education system by increasing their
motivation to study and improving the appeal of educational institutions. Another
specific objective of this Priority is to manage the quality of education by perfecting
the educational outcome assessment system and to develop and implement an
effective monitoring system. Projects eligible to receive support under this Priority
involve activities for improving students‘ key competences with an emphasis on
linguistic, digital, social and civic competences; broadening and perfecting the
assessment system; measuring students‘ performance in reading, mathematics and
natural sciences, in national and international studies, including training
pedagogical experts to prepare and assess students; introducing modern
technologies and interactive methods and instruments in the education sector;
development, updating and evaluation of the effectiveness of school curricula and
syllabi; building a modern safe learning environment in schools; provision of
information and communication technology (ICT) resources for
visualisation/presentation of study materials; modernising the teaching process by
introducing ICT teaching solutions; developing quality assurance standards for pre-
school education; creating conditions for organising a full-day school system, etc. The
target groups under this Investment Priority include children, students, young
people, adults, parents, psychologists, etc. Some of the potential beneficiaries under
this Axis are kindergartens, schools, municipalities, community centres, non-
government organisations, etc.
This Axis also incorporates the ―Improving the Quality, Effectiveness and
Access to Higher and Equivalent Education with a View to Increasing Participation
and Attainment Levels‖ Priority. Its objectives are to improve the knowledge base,
skills and employment opportunities of tertiary degree holders and to optimise the
work of higher education institutions. Activities eligible for assistance under this
Priority include: upgrading the accreditation system; maintaining and upgrading a
developed rating system of Bulgaria‘s higher education institutions; upgrading
instruction modes and student assessment methods; encouraging student
participation in various forms of additional studies; perfecting the mechanisms for
recognising higher education degrees and courses acquired in foreign universities
and colleges; providing scholarships to students; optimising the work of higher
education institutions by improving the financing model used, optimising the higher
education institutions network; support for implementing flexible learning models;
developing partner networks between Bulgarian and foreign students, etc. The
Priority's target groups include students, prospective students, young people, PhD
candidates, postdoctoral fellows, lectors, employers, etc. Eligible beneficiaries are

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higher education institutions, representative organisations of workers, employees
and employers, representative student organisations, organisations under the
Bulgarian Non-Profit Legal Entities Act (NPLEA), etc.
The objective of Investment Priority 3 of Priority Axis 2 is to increase access to
lifelong learning opportunities, to improve workers‘ qualifications and make
educational and training systems more relevant to the labour market, including by
improving the quality of vocational education and training and creating and
developing plans for education through work and apprenticeship, such as the dual
education system. This Priority‘s specific objectives are as follows: 1) Developing the
capacity and improving the qualifications of people employed in the fields of
education, training and research; 2) support for continuing education and creating
conditions for acquiring and upgrading knowledge, skills and competences; 3)
raising the appeal and improving the quality of vocational education and training; 4)
promoting links between vocational education and training, higher education,
research and business. Activities eligible for support under the Investment Priority
include: support for acquiring qualifications, continuing education and career
development of people working in the fields of education, training and research;
capacity development and creating incentives to motivate and retain young
specialists in the system of pre-school and school education by providing
scholarships to young pedagogical specialists employed in the system of pre-school
and school education who wish to pursue a PhD in Pedagogy; creating a professional
profile model for every position of a pedagogical specialist‘s career path; creating
better conditions for enhancing personal and professional knowledge and skills and
acquiring new ones, including by developing partner networks; capacity
development and creating incentives for young specialists – PhD candidates,
postdoctoral students, postdoctoral fellows and young scientists in the research
sector and in higher education, including through joint programmes with the
business sector; assistance for the professional development of PhD candidates who
are doing a ―Project‖ PhD in research areas and economic sectors that are a high
priority for Bulgaria; developing partner networks between Bulgarian and foreign
scientists, researchers, PhD candidates, postdoctoral students, postdoctoral fellows,
young scientists and teachers for conducting research; updating curricula and
syllabi in vocational education; support for teacher trainees; introducing flexible
forms of education in vocational education; support for the process of disseminating
research findings, including support for organising national and international
science forums – conferences, seminars, symposia, congresses, summer schools,
competitions, etc. Main beneficiaries are higher education institutions and/or their
major branches, kindergartens, schools, research organisations, research institutes,
youth organisations, organisations under NPLEA, etc.
The Programme‘s Priority Axis 3: ―Learning Environment for Active Social
Inclusion‖ is aimed at active inclusion, especially with a view to improving
employability. A concrete objective of this Investment Priority is to increase the
quality and improve the access to education by creating a supportive environment
for inclusive education. Another specific goal is building a learning environment
conductive to realising every child‘s and every student‘s full potential for personal
development, fulfilment and socialisation; deinstitutionalisation; creating conditions
for building an active partnership with parents on the kindergarten and school
levels; providing opportunities for additional studies, in accordance with children‘s
and students‘ individual needs; providing opportunities for the children and

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students to demonstrate and develop their creative abilities with extracurricular
and after school activities, etc. The Axis also concerned with integration of
marginalised communities, such as the Roma community.
Government institutions, higher education institutions, research
organisations, kindergartens, schools, municipalities, resource centres, non-
government organisations, etc. may apply for and benefit from financial aid provided
under this Priority Axis.

Rural Development Programme 2014–2020 (RDP 2014–2020)

One of the core objectives of RDP 2014–2020 is social and economic
development in rural regions, leading to new job creation, reducing poverty,
improving social inclusion and quality of life. RDP will continue to support projects
implemented by local branches of religious denominations and non-government
organisations over the new 2014–2020 programming period. Here we will address
several major funding areas under the Measure which directly affect the work of
church organisations and local structures. To this effect, representatives of non-
government organisations and local branches of religious denominations may benefit
from the funding provided under Measure 7: ―Core Services and Village Renovation
in Rural Regions‖. Its implementation seeks to make villages and towns in rural
regions attractive for businesses and residents by sustaining and stimulating their
economic, social and cultural development. Activities under this Measure are aimed
at developing rural regions‘ infrastructure and core local services, renovation of
villages and towns, restoration and upgrading the cultural and natural heritage in
the target regions as identified in the Measure.
Non-profit legal entities may apply with projects under Sub-Measure 7.2:
―Investment in Building, Improving or Expanding All Types of Small-Scale
Infrastructure, Including Investment in Renewable Energy and Energy Saving‖
Some of the investments under this Sub-Measure involve building and/or renovation
of landscaped areas for public use – parks, gardens, street landscaping, inter-
building space, graveyards, including their adjacent facilities, equipping those with
video-monitoring systems in implementation of the applicable safety and crime
prevention measures; building, reconstruction, renovation, equipment and/or
furnishing supply for a social infrastructure for provision of services which do not
fall within the process of deinstitutionalisation of child or elderly care; building,
reconstruction, renovation, furnishing and/or equipment supply for a municipal
infrastructure to provide contemporary public housing for vulnerable populations,
including Roma people; investments for reconstruction and/or renovation of
municipal buildings where public services are provided, including vertical planning
services and adjacent areas renovation; investments for building, reconstruction,
renovation, equipment and/or furnishing supply for sports infrastructure;
investments for building, reconstruction, renovation, equipment and/or furnishing
supply for cultural centres, theatres, community centres, libraries, museums,
galleries, exhibition halls and other sites related to cultural life, including mobile
sites, including vertical planning activities and adjacent areas renovation;
investments for reconstruction, renovation, equipment and/or furnishing supply for
educational infrastructure of local importance in rural regions, etc. Municipalities,
non-profit legal entities and community centres will receive 100% financing provided
that there is no generation of profits. In the cases of non-profit legal entities and
cultural centres, if there is potential for generation of profits, they will receive 75%

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funding.
Local branches of religious denominations may apply for funding with
projects under Sub-Measure 7.6.: Surveys and investments related to maintaining,
restoring and improving the cultural and natural heritage of the villages, the rural
landscape and sites of high natural value, including the respective socio-economic
aspects, as well as efforts to raise environmental awareness.
This Sub-Measure provides aid for investments for recovery, restoration,
renovation and/or reconstruction of buildings of religious importance, including
vertical planning activities and adjacent areas renovation. Eligible costs under this
Sub-Measure are the costs for building, acquisition – including lease acquisition – or
renovation of real property; purchasing or leasing new plant and equipment up to
the asset's market place; general costs related to expenditure under items ―a‖ and
―b‖, for example architects‘, engineers‘ and consultants‘ fees, fees for consultations
regarding the environmental and economic sustainability, including feasibility
studies; acquisition or development of computer software and acquisition of patents,
licenses, copyright, trademarks. Local branches of religious denominations are
eligible for 100% funding if there is no generation of profits. In the case of local
branches of religious denominations, if there is potential for generation of profits,
financing is set at 75%.

For further information:

 www.eufunds.bg
 http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/index_bg.htm
 http://www.hrdc.bg
 http://ec.europa.eu/esf/main.jsp?catId=62&langId=en
 http://ec.europa.eu/social/youthemployment
 http://prsr.government.bg/index.php/bg/sections/l2/101
 http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/about-the-europe-for-citizens-
programme/future-programme-2014-2020/index_en.htm

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