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C A R I T A S I N B A N J A L U K A
Certainly one of the most creditable institutions of the Banja Luka Diocese of the present time is Caritas. It started out as soon as democratic changes started to occur after the fall of the communist regime, under which all charitable organized work had been forbidden. Caritas is located in great proximity of the cathedral and greatly assisted not only citizens of urban Banja Luka, but also of the entire territory of the diocese. Unselfishly and daringly, Caritas supported a large number of citizens with no regard to their ethnic or religious background – even in the most difficult wartime situations. In order to be more efficient, Caritas opened a second office in Zagreb in 1992, whose job it was to collect and distribute al kinds of humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable citizens. Also, that office provided them with medical assistance. Other than that, the Zagreb office became, for many people, the only way to contact with their closest relatives, who were spread out throughout the world. After the end of the war, Caritas grew especially dedicated to the restoration and re-establishment of a more or less “normal” kind of life. In that context, it has been assisting reconstruction of a large number of houses and apartments and encouraging as well as supporting the development of small and medium enterprises. For that same purpose, Caritas established the skilled workers’ cooperative «Radiša», and is organizing all kinds of different courses, assisting with educational programs and other. In 1999, international funding enabled Caritas to renovate the entire building of the Bishop's ordinariate and to transform it into Caritas’ clinic, which has been providing medical help to the socially most vulnerable, staffed by a team of doctors and other medical employees. Caritas also organized a service, providing home-based care for the elderly, sick and weak, who are frequently abandoned by everyone else, living in a world of their own and far away from civilization. Ever since its
foundation in 1986 up to today, the director of Caritas Banja Luka has been
Monsignor Dr Miljenko Aničić. Other than that, Dr. Anicic was also the
first director of Caritas on the level of the Bishop's conference of Bosnia
and Herzegovina (1994-1998).
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