Parish councils are “the spinal column of the parishes”. The Bishop of Linz, Ludwig Schwarz, has appealed to Catholics to take part in the elections of the parish councils, scheduled for Sunday 18 March. According to Bishop Schwarz, without the parish councils, “the Church would be far poorer”: for they “bring people closer to the message of Jesus and to the Church; thanks to the parish councils, “the Church assumes a personal aspect. People can learn how the message of Jesus should be understood from the many Christians serving as volunteers in the parishes. This implies a great responsibility, but is also an inspiring and meaningful task of life”. To coincide with the parish council elections, the diocese of Linz is launching a new communication project called “All Ears”: the event is aimed at ensuring that those who collaborate either as staff or as volunteers in the parishes be willing to serve their fellowmen by seeking dialogue. It is important they should “listen to the desires, the joys, anxieties and needs of people in the parishes”, said Bishop Schwarz, who also said stressed that “consciousness of the fact that particular people are the recipients of the message of Jesus should never to be lost sight of in parish activities”. From this point of view, the Church can learn a lot from Christ: “He listened to people’s problems, their injustices and failings”. “Perhaps we too can succeed in unleashing a process of salvation with personal meetings that promote good cooperation in the parish”. The project is also presented on the Internet on the website: www.ganzohr.at.
