Church-based charity work in Hungary

Abstract

The broadening of church-based charity work, the increasing volume and strengthening complexity of services all represent essential progress in the Hungarian social system. This process is not only closely related to the transformation of the connections between the historic churches and the government, but is also linked to the development of the church’s social services since that creates a greater sensitivity to problems and a diverse system of intervention tools.

This study aims to describe the principles and special fields of historic churches’ social work in Hungary, in particular the challenges in an environment of constant change. The paper focuses on the activity of the largest denominations (Catholic, Calvinist and Lutheran Church).