In special life situations – in hospital, in prison, with the police or in military service – people often reach their limits: physically, mentally, morally. They need someone who listens to them, takes them seriously without judging them and helps them to find their own attitude. This is precisely the task of humanistic pastoral care.
Our expert committee Humanistic Pastoral Care in Institutions is committed to ensuring that this support becomes a matter of course in state and public institutions. We understand pastoral care as human relationship work based on respect, empathy and trust. Meaning, comfort and orientation can also and especially arise from a secular-humanistic understanding of life.
A current focus of our work is the development of a humanistic military chaplaincy. Soldiers should have access to support that takes the reality of their lives seriously and addresses ethical issues openly and responsibly. We also want to help people in prisons, hospitals and the police to feel understood and seen in difficult situations.
Our goal is a society in which human care and ethical reflection are an integral part of institutional culture.
We welcome all supporters who know institutional contexts well from their own experience, who are qualified in humanist existential care or pastoral care or who would like to actively promote the topic at a political level.
Help shape what humanistic pastoral care should look like in the future!
Get in touch with us at hvd@humanismus.de.
