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Caritas Internationalis - German Origins at the Turn of the 20th Century

German Origins at the Turn of the 20th Century

Catholic aid and relief activities remained uncoordinated in large part and locally focused into the late 19th century in Germany. Movement toward a more centralized organization began among socially active priests and politicians toward the dawn of the 20th century. By the early 1890s, that movement had found its leader, in the form of Lorenz Werthmann, a young priest in the town of Freiburg. Werthmann gathered a number of like-minded church members, forming the Charitas Comité in 1895. By 1897, Charitas, as the new organization became known, launched its official operations.

Charitas initially focused on providing charity and other relief and social aid services to Germany's poor, primarily targeting the nation's Christian population. From the outset, Charitas exhibited a strong degree of social advocacy, tackling societal problems such as welfare services, alcoholism, protection of the mentally and physically handicapped, as well as of migrant workers, women's health, and the like.

Less than three years after its founding, Charitas boasted more than 1,500 members. Yet the organization remained relatively informal in structure, financial planning, and operational organization as well. At the same time, Charitas did not enjoy the official sanction of the German Catholic Church. The outbreak of World War I and the resulting pressure on the organization's emergency relief capacity exposed the need for a more formalized operating structure. In 1916, Charitas was recognized as the single official umbrella organization for the German Catholic Church's relief operations.

Over the next decade, Charitas's operations were extended to provide complete coverage of Germany. By 1922, the organization was present in all of the country's dioceses. Charitas also created its own educational network, providing training in various social fields, as well as specific advanced training programs such as nursing, child and youth welfare services, and others. By the time of Werthmann's death that year, Deutsche Caritasverbandes (DCV), the new name of the organization, had developed solid foundations as one of Germany's most important social aid institutions. Growth continued through the decade, and before the end of the 1920s, DCV counted more than 10,000 programs in place throughout Germany.

The DCV in Germany had inspired the creation of similar organizations in other countries. One of the first of the new generation of Catholic relief organizations was created in Lucerne, Switzerland in 1901. The United States followed soon after with the establishment of the Catholic Charities in 1910. The Netherlands added the Roman Katholieke Huisvestingscomité in 1914, which later evolved into Mensen in Nood.

In 1924, a first attempt at international coordination of the various Catholic relief societies resulted in the first Catholic charities conference. The conference, held in Lucerne, attracted some 60 delegates from 22 countries in its first year. By 1928, the conference had evolved into Caritas Catholica, which held meetings every two years.