An international conference for episcopal delegates responsible for university ministry was held at Leányfalu, near Budapest, in recent weeks. Organized by the Vicariate of Rome and the university Chaplaincy in Budapest, the conference was supported by the Hungarian Bishops’ Conference. The participants evaluated the experience of WYD in Cologne: “Still greater attention needs to be devoted to university students”, said Msgr. Francis Kohn, head of the youth section at the Pontifical Council for the Laity. The main issues on the agenda included discussion of the Lineamenta prepared by the Commission for university ministry of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences. The some 60 delegates came from over 20 different countries. Meanwhile, at the beginning of October, the meeting of representatives of places of Marian pilgrimage linked by the “Marian Network” was held at Máriapócs, with participants from 13 different European countries. The Network was founded at Lourdes two years ago to create a forum for personal contacts and friendships. “The Marian sanctuaries are important, because they offer us the occasion to see the world in a rather different way said Jacques Perrier, bishop of Lourdes and founder of the Network -, and to be free to think also of our soul. The sanctuary, however, is never a mere place of piety, but also plays an important role of evangelization”. The network hitherto had 15 members, like the 15 mysteries of the Rosary. Since John Paul II added a further 5 mysteries, the number of members will be increased accordingly. Three possible candidates were invited to the recent meeting in Hungary: Csíksomlyó (Romania), Locse (Slovakia) and Gibraltar. Various aspects are vetted with a view to the admission of new sanctuaries, as explained by the founder bishop to the Hungarian Catholic press agency “Magyar Kurír”: they must be situated in Europe and have played an important role as “national sanctuaries” in the history of their peoples.
