Speaking with RTL, Caritas Foundation board member Nathalie Frisch says the past year has been marked by hardship, but also quiet perseverance.

It has been almost a year since the Caritas scandal broke, revealing the misuse of 61 million euros and triggering a deep loss of trust that continues to affect Luxembourg’s entire social sector.

Much of Caritas Luxembourg’s operations and staff were transferred to a newly created organization, HUT, Hëllef um Terrain. However, the administrative clean-up is still ongoing. Accounts need to be settled, outstanding payments addressed, and debts recovered.

According to board member Nathalie Frisch, the situation was deeply distressing, for both the people relying on Caritas’ services and the employees caught in the uncertainty. The foundation hopes to resolve some key administrative issues by the end of the year, such as rent payments, but resources remain limited.

Frisch emphasized that in moments of acute crisis, support tends to be scarce. She acknowledged that while continuing core operations and securing jobs was a crucial achievement, additional backing would have made a difference.

Last week, political leaders debated how support for Caritas could have been better managed, especially after criticism from the opposition that the government cut off funding too abruptly. Frisch understood the initial decision, under the circumstances, but believes a quicker follow-up response might have helped to steer things in a more constructive direction.

She also warned that excessive bureaucracy continues to make frontline work unnecessarily difficult. In her view, many practitioners avoid speaking up or acting because of the labyrinth of complex procedures. What’s needed, she argued, is more common sense and the courage to act pragmatically when problems emerge, qualities that no legislative reform can easily instil.

Despite everything, Frisch hopes the focus can now return to the valuable work carried out daily by committed professionals across the sector.

Full conversation available in Luxembourgish:

Caritas one year later: "It was a difficult year"
Dat seet d’Nathalie Frisch, Member vum Verwaltungsrot vun der Fondatioun Caritas am RTL-Interview.