Diakonie and Caritas as civil law nonprofit performers in kind within the public warranted system in Germany

Abstract

Diakonie and Caritas in Germany are mainly run by more than ten thousand autonomous nonprofit legal entities of private law nature. They are constitutionally considered as part of the protestant and the catholic church. The public opinion is interested in tangible medical, nursing and social results for all local residents in Germany. Multiple interdisciplinary quality is as important as the fact that these services are performed on a local level. Moreover people also care about the underlying motive and the attitude of humanity that guides such professional services. The charity service by Diakonie and Caritas in Germany is almost entirely financed by public social insurances. The human services are performed in kind (Sachleistungen) by a variety of different groups of actors. The services are also financed by public tax funds. Hence the work of Diakonie, though performed in private law structures, is as a matter of fact overlapped by planning and financial resources of public law origin. As such Diakonie must be judged and accepted from individual customers and the individual citizens who engage with the Diakonie by civil contract and tort law. In order to maintain its unique position in Germany, Diakonie must permanently adapt with transparence their own governance structures by dialogue with the church and with the society as a whole.