With new zeal” “

For the first time a plenary assembly of the Austrian bishops has been held in the Vatican. The bishops, who were making their “ad limina” visit to Rome, met for their autumn session from 3 to 9 November to discuss the current situation of the Austrian Catholic Church. As declared by Bishop Egon Kapellari of Graz, vice-president of the Bishops’ Conference, during the presentation of the final document of the bishops in Vienna on 11 November, “the positive and negative features of the Austrian Catholic Church were reviewed”. We present the salient points of the document. “ad limina” VISIT. During his meeting with the bishops, Pope Benedict XVI “invited them to recognize the signs of the time in a serene and trustful fashion and “to proclaim the Gospel” in its entirety. Bishop Kapellari recalled the “moving words” pronounced by the Pope during the general audience of Wednesday 9 November, in which the Pope had affirmed his particular union with Austria and thanked bishops, priests and laity. “The bishops came home strengthened by their meeting with the Pope in Rome”, says the statement of the bishops published on 11 November. The great missionary initiatives of recent years – the civic mission in Vienna, the Katholikentag of the Catholics of Central Europe (MEKT), the “Open Sky” initiative in Salzburg – were reviewed and analysed. During their meeting, the bishops invited Benedict XVI to participate in the 850th anniversary of the pilgrimage to Mariazell, to be held in September 2007. In their final declaration, the bishops “welcome the fact that Benedict XVI has accepted with benevolence their invitation to Mariazell for September 2007 and emphasized his personal relationship with the Marian sanctuary”. AUSTRIAN presidenCY OF THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL. In view of the imminent six months’ Presidency of the European Council that Austria will fill in the first half of 2006, the Bishops’ Conference appeals to the country to “turn her gaze to Christ, to the One whom Catholics have recognized, proclaimed and celebrated as ‘Hope of Europe’, especially last year during the MEKT, to help in the construction of Europe in trust in Christ, letting themselves be inspired and guided by Him”. According to the bishops, “the guiding thought of that process must be ‘solidarity’, the principle of Catholic social doctrine that forms the soul of the European Union”. The Austrian Bishops’ Conference hopes that the process of globalization may be regulated, and appeals both for “concrete solidarity with the poor countries” and “a new mentality in the rich countries”: principles that the bishops would like to see applied on the occasion of the forthcoming summit between the EU and Latin America. A further aspect is the fair distribution of the economic burden between the generations, to alleviate the burden on the young and with particular regard for the more threatened or disadvantaged sections of society. The family too is at the centre of the concerns of the Austrian bishops. They see in the “current crisis of the European project” the expression of the absence of a common vision of social cohesion in Europe”. The “pause for reflection on Europe”, expressed by European heads of state and of government in December 2004, can be “salutary” on condition that it may truly “prompt reflection and lead to a new order”. To this end, the Austrian bishops recall the words of John Paul II, who invited Europe to rediscover its roots ( Ecclesia in Europa): an appeal “that holds good not only for the leaders of political, economic and social life, but is addressed at all Catholics, indeed at all people of good will”. Mariazell. The celebrations to mark the 850th anniversary of the pilgrimage to Mariazell will culminate on 8 September 2007 with the “Feast of patronage”, to which the Pope has been invited. In the words of the bishops, “this celebration is intended to emphasise the significance of Mariazell as spiritual home for many peoples of Central Europe in a new and difficult phase of European unification and to give impulses for the future. In grateful remembrance of the ‘pilgrimage of peoples’, the parliamentarians of all the countries that participated in MEKT are awaited at Mariazell”. The declaration of the Austrian bishops also points out that Mariazell is a holy site that “particularly attracts the young. Therefore, a great pilgrimage of Central European youth will take place from 12 to 15 August 2007”. It will be dedicated “to the questions, hopes and desires of youth in relation to their future and the common future”. As preparation for this great event, the initiative “72 hours without compromises”, annually held by Austrian Catholic youth, is planning a reorganization of the pilgrimage routes. The action is for the first time taking place in collaboration with the Catholic youth of the countries that took part in the MEKT. The preparation of the great youth pilgrimage to Marizell will be coordinated by Msgr. Franz Lackner, head of the youth pastoral office within the Austrian Bishops’ Conference.