Dialogue and solidarity” “

In recent months, apart from the mobilization of humanitarian aid for South-East Asia and various ecumenical projects, as reported by SirEurope, the issue of church-state relations has bulked large in the agenda of numerous Bishops’ Conferences of Europe. Below we give a summary of the last number of “Litterae communionis” published by the Ccee. ALBANIA: In response to the immeasurable tragedy that struck the populations of South-East Asia, the Albanian Bishops’ Conference has appealed to Christians to unite in prayer for the victims and to contribute, also materially, to the reconstruction. It is the first time the Albanian Christian community has responded so generously to the needs of those living in situations of hardship worse than their own. AUSTRIA: The Convention for the drafting of a new Constitution for Austria worked from May 2003 to January 2005. The members of the Convention also included the president of the Ecumenical Council of the Churches of Austria, the Catholic Sister Christine Gleixner. The Christian churches prepared and presented common positions: their main requests revolved round fundamental rights (including fundamental social rights), and the rights of groups such as the recognised churches and religious groups. A proposal for the amplification of the preamble was also presented; it includes the formulation: “ In conformity with the cultural, religious and humanistic traditions of Austria, conscious of freedom of conscience and the limits of human power, and pledging ourselves before God, our fellowmen and the creation, we give ourselves this Constitution“. BELARUS: The translation into Belorussian of the Ceremonial for the consecration of bishops and the ordination of priests and deacons was approved and sent to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. By special decree, the approved translation of the Roman Missal Editio typica III has become obligatory for the celebration of the Holy Mass in the Belorussian language since 1st January 2005. BELGIUM: The Bishops’ Conference of Belgium has begun preparations for the pastoral year 2005-2006, which will be dedicated to personal prayer and have as its basic text the document of the Belgian bishops: “Lord, teach us to pray”. Other documents are in preparation: one on globalisation, and another on the ordained and non-ordained ministries, respectively to be published by the episcopate’s Gaudium et Spes and Doctrinal Commissions. CZECH REPUBLIC: The Czech Bishops’ Conference supports the research project with the title “Martyrology of the Catholic Church in the Czech territory of the 20th century.” The aim of the research is to tackle in a particular way the period of Nazism and Communist totalitarianism. Nonetheless, some attention will also be devoted to other periods of modern history (the First World War, the expulsion of ethic German populations from Czech territories after the Second World War, victims among missionaries, political exiles, etc…). This project responds to the wish expressed by John Paul II in his Encyclical Tertio millennio adveniente. GERMANY: Gerhard Richter, a painter born in Dresden, has been awarded the “Prize of German Catholics for Art and Culture” for 2004-2005. The judgement expressed by the jury says that something is made visible in Richter’s works that transcends comprehensible reality. This is perceived by the observer as “passing into a transcendent dimension of our consciousness of reality, something that is at the origin of all spiritual art, as of theology”. The “Prize of German Catholics for Art and Culture” has been awarded by the German Bishops’ Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) at irregular intervals since 1990. Its aim is to make a contribution to the promotion of the meeting between church and modern culture. HUNGARY: With its budget for 2005, the Government failed to respect the Accord between the Holy See and the Hungarian Republic, since state subsidies to confessional schools have been reduced, in contrast to those to state schools. Due to the Government’s inflexibility during the negotiations, the parents of students demonstrated in front of the Ministry of Education. In reaction to the attitude of the Hungarian Government, the “historic” Churches (Catholic, Calvinist, Lutheran) and the Jewish community lodged an appeal with the Constitutional Court. Another problem concerned the possibility of dual citizenship for Hungarians living beyond the national frontiers: the bishops, unlike the government, had declared its support for this measure. LITHUANIA: The efforts being made to implement the accords with the Holy See in the field of cultural properties, and the difficulties this is giving rise to, continue. The main difficulties concern the return of the properties confiscated and still in the possession of the Government, the protection of properties now owned by the Churches and the search for funds for their restoration. On the other hand, the Bishops’ Conference has approved the procedures proposed by the Government for ensuring transparency in bookkeeping, with a view to permitting bigger donations by businesses to the Church. Companies are now able to deduct such donations from their taxes. MALTA AND POLAND: In November 2004, the UN Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights sent a recommendation to the governments of these two countries inviting them to review their own legislation on abortion and to take into consideration some permissible exceptions to the general rule of the ban on abortions. The Polish bishops judged this an “unprecedented interference” in Poland’s domestic affairs. The Maltese bishops have reacted similarly: apart from reaffirming that “abortion is and shall remain a murder of innocent persons, whatever the reasons that gave rise to it”, they declare that “the pressure of the UN Committee on the Maltese government to legalize abortion in some circumstances is deplorable and unacceptable”. NETHERLANDS: The Bishops’ Conference has been working in recent months on the foundation of a Faculty of Theology at Utrecht and on the episcopal document “Euthanasia and pastoral mission”. UKRAINE: The Christian churches of the Ukraine accompanied in prayer the whole crisis of the presidential elections recently contested in the country. On 22 November 2004, after the second round of the elections, prayer vigils were organized in city squares and in rural areas, with the participation of bishops and the representatives of the various Christian confessions, calling for free and fair presidential elections. The Latin bishops appealed to the Catholic faithful to pray the rosary to Divine Mercy each day at 3.00 pm. The representatives of the various Christian confessions participated in the ceremony for the swearing in of the new President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko in Kiev on 23 January 2005. The representatives of the various Christian confessions also invoked God’s blessing on the new President and on the Ukrainian people in the ancient Orthodox cathedral of St. Sofia in Kiev on 24 January 2005. CCEE – CEC: MEETING FOR THE ECUMENICAL ASSEMBLY IN 2007: The meeting of the Group responsible for preparing the 3rd European Ecumenical Assembly, due to be held in Sibiu, in Romania, from 4 to 8 September 2007, opened at Terni (Italy) on 17 March. Delegates of the Council of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe (CCEE) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC) are attending the meeting. The order of the day comprises interventions by various exponents, including Keith Clements and Monsignor Aldo Giordano, respectively general secretaries of CEC and CCEE. Various documents concerning the preparations for the ecumenical assembly will be presented. A “Media” project is also being studied. The meeting will end on Sunday 120 March.