The pastoral team at the Isar-Amper-Klinikum in Haar welcomes a new colleague: Deacon Josef Kafko will be inaugurated on Wednesday, March 1, with an ecumenical service. This takes place in St. Raphael on the grounds of the clinic and starts at 6 p.m.
The 60-year-old Kafko is a Catholic deacon, religious education teacher and psychologist. According to the hospital’s press release, he also has additional qualifications as a supervisor, in hospice and palliative care as well as in pastoral care for the disabled and in emergency situations. Before moving to Haar, Kafko was responsible for personnel deployment and personnel management for priests in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. In the future, the deacon will mainly take care of patients in the day clinic wards and hold services. “I’m really looking forward to my job, which appeals to me a lot,” the deacon is quoted as saying. According to nursing director Gitti Wermuth, the clinic is also happy that the pastoral team is being strengthened. Kafko takes on an important, sometimes underestimated, task in the house. “Pastoral support is an important element of recovery for many patients, especially in crises and mourning situations,” says Wermuth.
Kafko will spend one-fifth of his working hours at the Haarer Klinikum, the remaining 80 percent as a consultant for pastoral care for mentally ill people and their relatives in the outpatient area. Kafko is available as a pastor for the clients of the social psychiatric services, the visitors of the day care centers and the various facilities and self-help groups, especially in the greater Munich area. His tasks also include advising, coaching and training pastoral workers in the parishes on the subject of mental illness and pastoral care.