Polish Catholic Social Association
The Polish Catholic Social Association ( Polski Związek Katolicko-Społeczny , PZKS) is a non-profit association with 12,000 members. It is divided into 76 departments and has its headquarters in Warsaw . The state executive consists of 21 people.
history
The association was founded in 1981 as a registered association with political intentions. From 1981 to 1991 there was a five-person group of non-party PZKS representatives in the Sejm , which helped to build democracy in Poland . He was the only one who did not agree to the introduction of martial law and was the initiator of the first bill for the protection of unborn life.
Since the beginning there have been contacts with European Christian Democrats and church and social institutions and associations. Since 1981, the association has been organizing charitable health holidays for children and young people in western countries, mainly in Germany and Holland, opening the door to Europe for a total of 25,000 Polish young people. Since 2002 it has had the status of a non-profit association.
aims
The goals of the association are education and upbringing initiatives for the young generation, social and charitable aid measures for people in need, in particular for young unemployed people, single mothers, seniors, the disabled and large families, the organization of symposia, training courses, studies and conferences. Furthermore, the association is involved in the fight against drug addiction and its social effects, by collecting and disseminating theses on the subject of drugs, by issuing magazines, books and other publications. He maintains the cooperation with the Catholic Church , with other churches and denominations in the sense of ecumenism and has contacts with foreign associations, NGOs as well as with groups of Poles living abroad. Its goals also include participation in the public life of the Polish state and the structures of the EU in terms of national and European civil society and regional cooperation in the economic, cultural and social fields.