An "international" assembly” “

The steps forward of the Churches, the pastoral difficulties and social problems of their respective countries: just some of the themes posed to the attention of the recent general Assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference (Rome, 20-24 May) by the fifteen bishops representing the foreign Episcopal Conferences invited to participate. For example… The political situation created after the first round of the presidential elections in France and the publication of a pamphlet aimed at educators with the title “Combating paedophily” were the issues addressed by Bishop Jean Bonfils of Nice. According to Bonfils, “as Pastors, we must question ourselves why abstention and the vote for the extreme right were particularly prominent among working-class electors, i.e. among those we call the excluded, in short the poor”. In Poland social problems are not lacking, pointed out Jan Watroba, auxiliary bishop of Czestochowa, beginning with the growing unemployment that has reached the level of 18%. To help relieve the problem, support groups have been set up, in various forms, offering severally spiritual, moral and economic assistance. Another burning issue that the Church must tackle at this time concerns European integration: public opinion is divided between euro-enthusiasts and euro-sceptics. That’s why the Polish Episcopal Conference has itself adopted a stance and spelt it out in a pastoral letter entitled “The Polish Bishops and European integration”. “In the Czech Republic the Church has on paper obtained full liberty”, said Jaroslav Skarvada , auxiliary bishop of Prague: “There are 73 Catholic schools, but we don’t have enough teachers because under Communism no Christian could study humanistic disciplines”. Another problem of the country is the lack of vocations: in Prague there are only 183 priests, of whom 37 foreigners, to serve 278 parishes. Yet the number of faithful in the parishes is increasing. The Church of Hungary, explained Bishop Peter Erdo, delegate of the Hungarian Episcopal Conference, has seen the consolidation in recent years of numerous cultural and educational institutes run by the Church, including the Catholic University of Budapest. A new ecumenical Council for developing relations with other Christians and a greater involvement of the laity in ecclesial activities: these, on the other hand, were some of the new developments mentioned by Bishop Rimantas Norvilla of Vilkaviskis, delegate of the Episcopal Conference of Lithuania. Msgr. Norvila expressed concern, however, about the growing number of suicides in the country. “Given that the Church shares people’s problems, it too has difficulty in finding a role of normality in society. It’s difficult to proclaim and experience the Gospel hope in the midst of people’s daily despair”. So says Pero Sudar, auxiliary bishop of Sarajevo, in Bosnia-Herzegovina. “The unjust political solution, which causes the lack of work and the poverty of a large part of the population – he said – discourages even those who remained in the country. In spite of that, the Church is dedicating its efforts to the return of all the refugees, because only thus can peace have a chance”. In Albania, as Father Prelja Djurasaj, apostolic administrator of Pult-Bajza, recalled, many churches have been built over the last decade, a new interdiocesan seminary has been erected, and the country has witnessed the arrival of numerous missionaries, many of them from Italy. With 9 bishops, seven dioceses and two apostolic vicariates, the Episcopal Conference of the region of North Africa comprises Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. “Ours is a Church of the diaspora in a completely Moslem territory, but it is free to exercise its own cult and serve Christians wherever they may be – said Msgr. Giovanni Martinelli, vicar apostolic of Tripoli (Libya) –. The Church is daily engaged in dialogue, in humanitarian, social and healthcare service in hospitals or in nursing homes”. “If we want the mission of the Christian to have a significance and a foundation, in particular with Moslems – he suggested –, it’s essential that Christians should at all costs recover their own religious or cultural identity”. Patrizia Caiffa