https://doi.org/10.31261/CHOWANNA.2004.22.13
At the beginning of the 19th century, care for disabled children in Polish territories was encompassed within the broader care for impoverished children. Disability was not recognized as a separate category and was instead viewed as one of the causes of poverty. Assistance to the poor stemmed from the duty to show mercy and give alms, which lies at the core of Christian morality. This obligation primarily rested with the superiors of ecclesiastical provinces and religious orders, whose rules emphasized charitable work. Parish poorhouses, known as ptochium, gradually became differentiated into institutions for the elderly, the sick, and traveling pilgrims, thereby forming a comprehensive system of care facilities. In the 17th century, institutions specifically for child care began to emerge. Initially, all charitable institutions were referred to as “hospitals.” It was only in the 19th century that this term became reserved exclusively for institutions dedicated to treating the sick. Charitable institutions were founded by bishops or lay individuals, and these establishments were treated as donations to the Church, approved by its superiors, thereby placing them under ecclesiastical authority. According to the decrees of Pope Gregory IX, all charitable institutions within a diocese were subject to the authority of the local bishop. In the mid-18th century, the first care facility for children under the patronage of Saint Casimir was established in Lviv. It housed orphaned and abandoned children, although the sources do not specify the reasons for abandonment in detail.
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Vol. 1 No. 22 (2004)
Published: 2025-08-18

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