Pastoral care in homes for the elderly: Selected issues

Abstract

Pastoral care of the elderly in the sense of accompanying an older person in the story of life and faith requires a functional relationship between the pastoral worker and the recipient of pastoral care. The paper first brings a brief reflection of the contemporary practice of pastoral care in homes for the elderly in CR as a specific pastoral environment, then, based on the conclusions of the qualitative study Spiritual Needs in the Life of Elderly Persons in South Bohemia, defines and characterizes aspects of meaningful pastoral care (not only) in this specific pastoral milieu: own initiative of the pastoral worker in establishing contact with the elderly persons, point of departure in love of the neighbour, openness to all elderly persons regardless of their declared creed, ability to actively listen to their life story, respect for the personal story of religious or spiritual development of the particular person and assistance in discovering and reinforcing his own spiritual resources.