Volunteering and helping
Want to serve? Here's where
Many believers would help but do not know whom to ask, so goodwill goes unused. Holymeet brings together four ways to help: your diocesan Caritas, projects in your own parish, missions, and concrete humanitarian initiatives posted by members — with a date, a place and the number of people needed.
What you get
No searching — it's all here
Caritas has a map of all its offices, the parish is nearest and often needs the most, and the Pontifical Mission Societies have a national office. All three are here, verified.
Initiatives with a date and a place
Every initiative shows when, where and how many people are needed. You sign up with one tap and the organiser gets your contact so they can call you.
The organiser gets a list
Whoever posted the initiative sees the names and contacts of those signed up and can export them as a PDF. Apart from them, only an admin sees the contacts.
For parishes and communities
A parish office, a charitable group or a youth group can post an initiative and receive sign-ups from the whole area, with no separate app and no ads.
Four ways
Caritas
Soup kitchens, parcels, help for the elderly, shelter
Every diocese has its ownParish projects
Catechesis, altar servers, choir, care for the church
One conversation with the parish priestMissions
Pontifical Mission Societies — prayer, collections, going on mission
Office in ZagrebHumanitarian initiatives
Parcels, clean-ups, transport, help after a storm
Posted by members themselvesThis is a preview. Signing up for and posting initiatives happen in the app.
How and where to volunteer in the Church
The most common obstacle to volunteering is not a lack of time but not knowing whom to ask. Someone willing to help does not know whether there is a soup kitchen in their town, whether their parish needs a driver or a catechist, or where to send an email. So this page does not talk about the importance of volunteering; it lists concrete places.
Caritas is the largest charitable network of the Church in Croatia and each diocese has its own, with its own needs. Parish projects are the nearest and easiest to begin: one conversation with the parish priest opens catechesis, altar serving, the choir and care for the church. The Pontifical Mission Societies connect believers with missionaries in the field.
Some organisations publish actual open positions: the Caritas of the Zagreb Archdiocese looks for tutoring help in children's homes, workshop leaders, kitchen work and help distributing food; the Catholic association Kap dobrote runs soup kitchens in Zagreb; and the volunteer centre of the Student Catholic Centre Palma accepts volunteers from the age of 15 with a guardian's consent.
In addition, Holymeet members post concrete initiatives: handing out parcels, cleaning up, transport, help after a storm. Each shows the date, the place and how many people are needed, and the organiser receives the list of those signed up.
Frequently asked questions
I have no experience — can I still help?
Yes. Most initiatives just need you to turn up and lend a hand. For anything that requires training, such as work with children or the sick, the organisation will give you instructions.
How much time do I need to give?
As much as you can. An hour a month is not nothing, and regularity is worth more than one long day.
Can anyone see my phone number?
Only the organiser of the initiative you joined, and an admin, for coordination. Your contact is not visible to other members.
Can a parish post its own initiative?
Yes. Posting is free and open to all signed-in members.
Whom do I ask if my parish has nothing organised?
Your diocesan Caritas — it has a map of all its offices. For missions there is the national office of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Zagreb.