Samenvatting

Spiritual caregivers in the Netherlands are available in the military and in penitentiary institutions, in health care institutions and, recently, in the police. Within the military and the justice system, the spiritual care is traditionally characterised by a clear division of responsibilities between church and state. Due to domain specific developments in health care institutions and within the police, positions and responsibilities are less clear-cut. Developments such as the increased number of denominations that provide spiritual care tends to regard spiritual caregivers as ‘ordinary employees’. This article analyses the position of spiritual caregivers in the various domains and discusses current developments. It asserts that the church-state arrangement in the classic spiritual care areas requires respect and that the gist thereof should be taken into account in legal arrangements in the other domains.