France: “kilometres of sun”” “

A Lent devoted to charity, fasting and prayer. At the charitable level, it will be the CCFD (Catholic Committee against famine and for development) that will receive – on the designation of the French episcopate – the funds collected during Lent. Meanwhile the cycle of lectures in the cathedral of Paris are continuing; aimed at deepening the experience of faith, they are proving an enormous success with the public. On behalf of the countries of the southern hemisphere. “Laying the foundations for peace”: this is the slogan adopted by the CCFD to promote its charity programme during Lent 2002. Created as a way of strengthening international solidarity in 1961, this NGO will commission, from 6 to 26 March, some forty leaders of associations in the countries of the southern hemisphere and the Far East to update the Church on the situation of these countries and recount the experiences, struggles and hopes of their inhabitants. The collection of funds will take place in almost all French parishes on Sunday 17 March, to help the 80 countries in which the CCFD is involved in various projects (in agriculture, health care, education, child protection) with its network of 15,000 volunteers, organized in 99 diocesan committees, and with the involvement of 1,500 local teams and 29 movements and services of the Catholic Church of France. Meanwhile the “Land of the Future” event has now reached its fourteenth year. Promoted under the auspices of France’s Ministry of Youth and Sport, it regularly attracts some 100,000 youngsters each year and involves them in some 600 competitive and other events (athletics, rallies, games, performances). The proceeds will help to fund various projects in Madagascar. Caritas for children. French Caritas is proving no less active in promoting Lenten fund-raising events: from 17 February to 31 March it is sponsoring the so-called “ Kilometres of sun” campaign dedicated this year to the theme of citizenship. The aim of the campaign is to raise the awareness of children between the ages of 7 and 11 in issues of citizenship and encourage them to become responsible citizens. It is being conducted in close liaison with Catholic youth organizations. The initiative also has as its objective the funding of five projects: in Madagascar (micro-credits for families in Antananarivo); in Peru (support for a family hostel that provides a home for 160 street children); in Nigeria (aid to scouts for the publication of an animation dossier in local languages); in Adzerbaijan (grants to girl-guide associations); and in Jordan (launch of a children’s newspaper). The Capuchin friars have also been mobilized in the campaign; together with the Quart-Monde movement, they aim to organize a working association for the less well-to-do in the disadvantaged quarters of the Paris region: the project is aimed at the pooling of professional know-how (in information technology, handicrafts, theatre) and will last several years. Lectures in the cathedral. A particular strong appeal is being exerted this year by the programme of Lenten lectures in the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. Dedicated to “Christianity faced by the challenge of the new forms of religion”, they are being given by Father Joseph-Marie Verlinde, prior of the monastic Confraternity of the Family of St. Joseph. A priest, doctor in nuclear chemistry and doctor of philosophy, Father Verlinde’s career has been somewhat anomalous. Seduced by transcendental meditation in the 1970s, he left for the Himalayas where he spent four years. On his return to Europe, he assiduously practised a form of esoteric occultism before returning to the Gospel and to the Church. He was ordained in 1983. “God: ocean of cosmic energies or person” introduced his cycle of six talks. The talks are being broadcast on the web and by Christian radio stations, and the telephone hot lines – says Thomas Valut, head editor of Radio-Notre-Dame – have been besieged by the phone calls of listeners. They called in from as far afield as Canada and Africa. By the end of the second talk some 1,500 persons were linked to the Internet site. Maryvonne Gasse – Paris