Caritas Austria

Social aid organisation of the Roman Catholic Church

Caritas Austria

Caritas Österreich

Abbreviation| CÖ
Established| 1903; 122 years ago (1903)
Type| Association
Location|

* Vienna,  Austria

Coordinates| 48°11′06″N 16°19′58″E﻿ / ﻿48.18512°N 16.33289°E﻿ / 48.18512; 16.33289
Origins| Catholic Social Teaching

Region served

| Austria and worldwide
Fields| social work, social policy, humanitarian aid

President

| Nora Tödtling-Musenbichler
Affiliations| Caritas Europa, Caritas Internationalis
Revenue| € 1,128,300,000[1] (2022)
Expenses| € 1,128,300,000[1] (2022)
Staff| 17,694[2] (2024)
Volunteers| around 46,000[2] (2024)
Website| www.caritas.at

Caritas Austria (German: Caritas Österreich) is an Austrian social aid organisation of the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1903. It consists of a national office and nine regional diocesan Caritas organisations, all of which are legally independent.

Caritas Austria is a member of both Caritas Internationalis and its subregion Caritas Europa.

## History

[edit]

The Caritas movement in Austria can be traced back to the first Caritas Congresses shortly after the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The organisational structure at that time was based on the model of Caritas Germany, founded in 1897. Shortly after the World War I, nine regional associations were established. The first focal points of activity were, according to the emergency, meals and children's recreation activities in the country. The Caritas funeral care took care of a Christian funeral for people from poorer social classes.

Later - analogous to the Federal Republic of Germany \- fields of activity such as nursing services, care and family assistance were added, homeless, disabled and refugee assistance (for example during the Hungarian popular uprising of 1956), social counselling, the Caritas shops, mother-child houses and finally (mobile) hospice [3] work and employment projects.

In 2015, the Austrian Caritas supported more than 72,000 people with advice and also financially in its 36 social counselling centres and disbursed around four million Euros in emergency aid. Caritas Family helpers look after children and the household when the parents are no longer able to do so.

Caritas activities abroad mainly are disaster relief and development cooperation.

## Structure

[edit]

Caritas worker with a patient of the geriatric ward of Salzburg University Hospital.

The Austrian Caritas consists of the nine independent organisations with their own financial responsibility in the Austrian dioceses. The central coordination currently consists of Nora Tödtling-Musenbichler as President and the Secretary General Anna Parr and her deputy Andreas Knapp (Secretary General for International Programmes). Each individual Caritas Institution is a separate legal body and acts as a supporting organisation for social services. Most of them are registered as associations under Church law.

Organisations in the Dioceses:

* Caritas der Diözese Feldkirch (Caritas Vorarlberg)
* Caritas der Erzdiözese Wien
* Caritas St. Pölten
* Caritas Burgenland
* Caritas der Diözese Graz-Seckau
* Caritas Oberösterreich
* Kärntner Caritasverband
* Caritas der Diözese Innsbruck
* Caritas Salzburg

Each parish has its own parish charity: a total of 33,000 parish charity employees work for "active charity". They organise visiting services, senior meetings, benefit events, discussion groups, flea markets, Caritas showcases, holiday programmes for children, individual financial help, refugee aid, house collections and much more.[4]

## Staff members and volunteers

[edit]

In 2024, Caritas Austria had more than 17,000 employees and around 46,000 volunteers.[2]

6,046 employees worked in the field of care and nursing.[2]

Of the more than 40,000 Caritas volunteers all over the country, more than 3,000 teenagers were involved with youngCaritas.

## Work

[edit]

Secondhand clothing shop by Caritas in Klagenfurt.

Caritas Austria ran 71 shelters for homeless persons in 2024 with a total of 2,080 beds and 53 retirement and care homes, as well as 12 mother and child centres with accommodation for 203 mothers and their children and 71 Caritas social counselling centres offering advice and help to people in need.[2]

Another focus area is the work with people with disabilities. In 2024, Caritas offered more than 12,000 care places and almost 3,000 workshop places for people with disabilities. In addition, more than 7,000 people with disabilities received psychosocial support, and 1,800 benefitted from assisted living facilities.[2]

In 2022, Caritas Austria supported 508 foreign aid projects worldwide with a total volume amounting to 67.4 million euro.[2]

## Financing

[edit]

Over the past decades, Caritas has transformed itself from a donor company to a service company in the vicinity of the public sector. Meanwhile (2017) only about 8% of the expenses are covered by donations (including church contributions), in 2015 it was still about 10%. The predominant part (62%) is accounted for by fees for services from public funds, the rest largely by private fees and (state) subsidies.[5]

Due to the strong dependence on (state) service fees, the self-definition as an aid organisation is partly doubted and Caritas is described as "a company with an annual turnover of over 900 million euros".[6] This criticism was rejected by Caritas President Landau with reference to the general interest in the work of Caritas.

In 2017, donations rose to 77.58 million euros. This makes Caritas the non-profit organisation with the highest donations in Austria.[7]

Caritas' turnover is exempt from turnover tax.[8]

## President

[edit]

List of Caritas presidents post World War II:

* Jakob Weinbacher (1947-1952)
* Hermann Pfeiffer (1952-1964)
* Leopold Ungar (1964- 1991)
* Helmut Schüller (1991-1995)
* Franz Küberl (1995-2013)
* Michael Landau (2013-2023)
* Nora Tödtling-Musenbichler (2023-currently)

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Caritas in Austria.

* Official website (in German)
* Official website (in English)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Wirkungsbericht 2022 (Annual Report)". caritas.at. 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
2. ^ a b c d e f g "Zahlen und Fakten zur Arbeit der Caritas". caritas.at. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
3. ^ "Hospice". UNIQA Group Online Presse-Center (in German). Retrieved 2019-09-05.
4. ^ "Pfarrcaritas". www.caritas.at (in German). 2019-08-01. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
5. ^ "Caritas & Du Effectiveness Report 2016" (PDF). www.caritas.at. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
6. ^ Rosemarie, Schwaiger (2018-03-30). "Interview mit dem Caritas-Präsidenten Michael Landau". Profil. 14: 26.
7. ^ "Fundraising". www.fundraising.at. Archived from the original on 2018-12-06. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
8. ^ "according to §6 Abs. 1 Zi 25 UStG". www.jusline.at. Retrieved 2019-09-05.

* v
* t
* e

Caritas Internationalis Member Organisations and Regional Secretariats

Caritas Africa Member Organisations

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Caritas Angola
Caritas Benin
Caritas Botswana
Caritas Burkina Faso (OCADES)
Caritas Burundi
Caritas Cameroon
Caritas Cape Verde
Caritas Central African Republic
Caritas Chad
Caritas Comoros
Caritas Congo-Brazzaville
Caritas Congo
Caritas Côte d'Ivoire
Caritas Equatorial Guinea
Caritas Eritrea

Caritas Eswatini
Caritas Ethiopia (ECC- SDCO)
Caritas Gabon
Caritas Gambia (CaDO)
Caritas Ghana
Caritas Guinea (OCPH)
Caritas Guinea-Bissau
Caritas Kenya
Caritas Lesotho
Caritas Liberia
Caritas Madagascar
Caritas Malawi (CADECOM)
Caritas Mali
Caritas Mauritius
Caritas Mozambique
Caritas Namibia

Caritas Niger (CADEV)
Caritas Nigeria
Caritas Rwanda
Caritas São Tomé and Príncipe
Caritas Senegal
Caritas Seychelles
Caritas Sierra Leone
Caritas South Africa (Siyabhabha Trust)
Caritas South Sudan
Caritas Sudan
Caritas Tanzania
Caritas Togo (OCDI)
Caritas Uganda
Caritas Zambia
Caritas Zimbabwe (CADEC)

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Caritas Asia Member Organisations

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Caritas Bangladesh
Caritas Cambodia
Caritas Hong Kong
Caritas India
Caritas Indonesia
Caritas Japan
Caritas Kazakhstan
Caritas Kyrgyzstan
Caritas Laos

Caritas Korea
Caritas Macau
Caritas Malaysia
Caritas Mongolia
Caritas Myanmar (KMSS)
Caritas Nepal
Caritas Pakistan
Caritas Philippines (NASSA)
Caritas Singapore and CHARIS

Caritas Sri Lanka
Caritas Taiwan
Caritas Tajikistan
Caritas Thailand
Caritas Timor Leste
Caritas Uzbekistan
Caritas Vietnam

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Caritas Europa Member Organisations

|    |

Caritas Albania
Caritas Andorra
Armenian Caritas
Caritas Austria
Caritas Azerbaijan (corresponding member)
Caritas Belarus
Caritas Catholica Belgica
Caritas Bosnia and Herzegovina
Caritas Bulgaria
Caritas Croatia
Caritas Czech Republic
Caritas Denmark
Caritas Estonia
Caritas Finland
Secours catholique
Caritas Georgia

Caritas Germany
Caritas Hellas
Caritas Hungary
Caritas Iceland
Trócaire
Caritas Italy
Caritas Kosovo (corresponding member)
Caritas Latvia
Caritas Lithuania
Caritas Luxembourg
Caritas Malta
Caritas Moldova
Caritas Monaco
Caritas Montenegro
Cordaid
Macedonian Caritas

Caritas Norway
Caritas Poland
Caritas Portugal
Caritas Romania
Caritas Russia
Caritas Serbia
Caritas Slovakia
Caritas Slovenia
Caritas Spain
Caritas Sweden
Caritas Switzerland
Caritas Turkey
Caritas Ukraine & Caritas-Spes
CAFOD, CSAN and SCIAF

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Caritas Latin America and Caribbean Member Organisations

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Caritas Antilles
Caritas Argentina
Caritas Bolivia
Caritas Brazil
Caritas Chile
Caritas Colombia
Caritas Costa Rica
Caritas Cuba

Caritas Dominican Republic
Caritas Ecuador
Caritas El Salvador
Caritas Guatemala
Caritas Haiti
Caritas Honduras
Caritas Mexico
Caritas Nicaragua

Caritas Panama
Caritas Paraguay
Caritas Peru
Caritas Puerto Rico
Caritas Uruguay
Caritas Venezuela

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Caritas Middle East and North Africa Member Organisations

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Caritas Algeria
Caritas Cyprus
Caritas Djibouti
Caritas Iran
Caritas Iraq

Caritas Jerusalem
Caritas Jordan
Caritas Lebanon
Caritas Libya
Caritas Mauritania

Caritas Morocco
Caritas Somalia
Caritas Syria
Caritas Tunisia

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Caritas North America Member Organisations

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Development and Peace

Catholic Relief Services

Catholic Charities

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Caritas Oceania Member Organisations

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Caritas Australia
Caritas Fiji
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand

Caritas Pacific Islands
Caritas Papua New Guinea

Caritas Samoa
Caritas Tonga

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* v
* t
* e

Humanitarian partners of the European Commission

* Humanitarian partners
* DG ECHO

NGOs|

| International|

* Action Against Hunger (France, Spain)
* ADRA (Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany)
* CARE International (Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway)
* Caritas Europa (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain)
* ICRC (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden)
* Islamic Relief (Germany, Sweden)
* Oxfam (Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Spain)
* Plan International (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden)
* Save the Children (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden)
* Solidarités international (France, Spain)
* SOS Children's Villages (Austria, Netherlands)
* Terre des hommes (Italy, Netherlands)
* World Vision (Austria, Finland, Netherlands)

|

National|

* MDM · VSF
* PIN
* DACAAR · DanChurchAid · DPA · DRC
* Estonian Refugee Council · MTÜ Mondo
* Fida International · FinnChurchAid · FRC · Mannerheim League for Child Welfare
* ACTED · ALIMA · AVSF · Institut Bioforce · CDE · Federation Handicap · GRET · iMMAP · MDM · Œuvre d'Orient · PUI · Relief International · Secours Islamique · SPF · Triangle · TSF
* arche noVa · ASB · Diakonie Deutschland · Die Johanniter · GAC · HELP · International Rescue Committee · Malteser Hilfsdienst · Medair · MI · Sign of Hope · VSF
* Concern Worldwide · GOAL · SHA · Trócaire
* ActionAid · AISPO · AVSI · Cesvi · CISP · COOPI · CUAMM · Emergency · FADV · INTERSOS · JRS · LVIA · Un Ponte Per · VIS · WeWorld
* Cordaid · DAI · HNTPO · INSO · Mercy Corps · REK · Stichting Vluchteling · Tearfund Netherlands · War Child Netherlands · ZOA
* NCA · NPA · NRC
* PAH
* AKF PRT
* ACPP · Ayuda en Acción · EDUCO · Entreculturas · Farmacéuticos Mundi · MDM · Medicus Mundi · MPDL · Mundubat · SIA
* COS · Diakonia · Läkarmissionen · PMU Interlife · SWEDO

International organisations|

* ICRC
* IFRC
* FAO
* ILO
* IOM
* OCHA
* OHCHR
* PAHO
* UNDP
* UNDP MPTFO
* UNDRR
* UNESCAP
* UNESCO
* UNICEF
* UNFPA
* UN-HABITAT
* UNHCR
* UNMAS
* UNODC
* UNOPS
* UNRWA
* UNSECOORD
* UN Women
* WFP
* WHO
* World Bank

Agencies|

* AECID
* DGPCE
* DEMA
* DGSCGC
* Protezione Civile
* Enabel
* Expertise France
* GIZ
* GSCP
* Hungary Helps
* ITF
* MSB
* THW

* European Union portal

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

National|

* Germany
* Czech Republic

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