“Being witnesses of Jesus, learning how to pray, deepening personal faith, placing signs of hope, safeguarding and consecrating Sunday as the Lord’s Day, helping to defend life, especially of the vulnerable and unborn children, and creating solidarity between peoples”: these are the key points of the Message previewed by SIR – that the bishops of Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia these latter five due to enter the EU on 1st May will send “to all people of good will and to the pilgrims” who will participate in the Katholikentag for the Catholics of Mitteleuropa (MEKT) with the title “Christ Europe’s hope”. The culminating moment of the event will be the “pilgrimage of peoples” to the Marian sanctuary of Mariazell, in Austria, on 22 May 2004, where thousands of faithful from the eight participating countries are expected. In their document the bishops invite the faithful to a renewed commitment of Christian life through “the rediscovery of the Christian roots by which Europe is characterised” and a re-meditation on “the image of Mary in the basilica of Mariazell with the words, ‘Do whatever He tells you’ (Jn 2:5)”. A part of the Message will be read out during the pilgrimage, while the whole text will be sent as a pastoral letter to all the parishes of the eight participating countries and read out in churches on Pentecost, 30 May 2004, as “guidance for the future”. During the sixth meeting of the central Committee for the preparation of the Katholikentag, which ended at Celje, Slovenia, on 30 March, a preliminary programme of the pilgrimage was defined: it will begin on Friday, 21 May 2004, with a youth gathering and prayer vigil, while on Saturday 22 a eucharistic celebration will be officiated by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Secretary of State. The Presidents of the participating states and of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, are expected to attend.
