Thoughts, experiences, projects

On 26 April the new executive of the CCEE (Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe) was received in audience by Benedict XVI in the Vatican. Between 22 and 26 April it also had meetings with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State, and various heads of congregations and offices of the Holy See. This was the first “ad limina visit” of the CCEE ruling council, a particularly important occasion for the service to evangelization and communion performed by the organization that represents the Catholic bishops of the continent. Collegiality between the European Bishops’ Conference, ecumenism, and relations between Church, culture and society continue to represent the CCEE’s main fields of involvement. The meeting of the preparatory Committee for the Third European Ecumenical Assembly (EEA3) in September was held at Wittenberg (Germany) from 13 to 15 February, preceding the third stage of preparation for EEA3 (15-18 February) and the joint CCEE-CEC meeting (18-20 February). The Presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences of South-East Europe met at Oradea (Romania) from 1 to 4 March. The annual meeting of the CEEM executive committee was held at Gap (France) from 23 to 25 March. An informal meeting of the CCEE-COMECE executives was held in Berlin on 23 May. Forthcoming appointments include the European congress of university teachers (Rome, 21-24 June) and the meeting in Brussels (25-26 June) of the coordinators of the Forums in preparation for EEA3. Below we briefly review the more recent initiatives of some European Churches. Each number of SirEurope devotes wide coverage to the activities of all the Churches of the continent. ALBANIA. An extraordinary session of the Albanian Bishops’ Conference was held in February; during the meeting the bishops discussed the accord between the Republic of Albania and the Holy See on economic and fiscal questions. The government’s reactions are now awaited. Another question on the agenda was the recognition of the juridical personality of the Albanian inter-diocesan seminary. Since the number of Albanian migrants in Greece is ever increasing, another question discussed by the bishops is the urgent need to provide eucharistic celebrations in Albanian for them.BELGIUM . Since 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome and the 40th anniversary of the encyclical Populorum Progressio , the Gaudium et Spes Commission is preparing a letter to youth to help them find their rightful place in society. The document will contain a description of society faced by many challenges, and an analysis of globalization as an opportunity that needs to be grasped. The letter will also propose to the young a process of discernment, and appeal to them to commit themselves to the promotion of the common good. In terms of pastoral care, on the other hand, the bishops’ Commission for evangelization will prepare a document in the form of an interview as an aid to revive reflection on the bishops’ previous document ‘Becoming adults in the faith’. The bishops have also announced that 2008-2009 will be dedicated to ‘Growing in the faith… by listening to the Word of God’.BELARUS. The 32nd plenary assembly of the Catholic bishops of Belarus was held in Minsk in April. Questions on the agenda included supplementations to the Code of Canon Law, which according to ecclesiastical dispensation are approved by the individual Bishops’ Conferences, and the possibility of a delegation of Belarus participating in World Youth Day, due to be held in Sydney (Australia) in 2008. A representative of the Bishops’ Conference participated in the inter-Christian regional meeting held at the Patriarchate of Moscow in recent weeks; it was dedicated to preparations for the Third European Ecumenical Assembly in.BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA. The sessions of various episcopal councils/committees were held between February and April. The Council for institutions of consecrated life and Congregations of apostolic life reflected on how to celebrate the national Day for Religious and how to enhance their service in the local Church. During the session of the Council for the laity discussion focused, in particular, on various charismatic movements. The Committee for youth held various meetings to organize the planned pilgrimage of Croatian youth to the Marian sanctuary on Mount Komušina-Kondžilo (26-27 May 2007).CZECH REPUBLIC. The “Memorandum on the reform of Church-State relations” was delivered to the President of the Republic and various other civil authorities last week. The authors of the Memorandum ask for improvements in Church-State relations, in particular as regards legal provisions to ensure the Church’s freedom of activity, financial and patrimonial rules to support the freedom of the Churches, and the signing of a Concordat between the Czech Republic and the Holy See and the other Churches. The bishops met for their 68th plenary Assembly on 17-18 April; questions discussed included the preparation of national Youth Day in August – for which 5000 young people have already registered – and the Third European Ecumenical Assembly. CROATIA . The plenary Assembly of the Croatian Bishops’ Conference was held from 16 to 19 April. On the order of the day were the sacramental pastoral ministry in parish communities, questions linked to the Neocatechumenal Way with reference to the letter of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the discipline of the sacraments, the movements and charismatic meetings, the development of Caritas in Croatia, the Church in Croatian society today, the commemoration of the victims of the most recent wars, the nascent Catholic University, liturgical books, the proposal for the revision of pre-matrimonial courses, and relations with the State in terms of the restitution of expropriated property.LITHUANIA. The bishops of Lithuania sent a letter to families in April to emphasize the importance of the family for society and the ability of family life to be experienced with joy. On 29 April the national Association of Parents and Families organized an event called “Family” – cradle of life” in Vilnius, including a procession through the main streets of the city and the delivery of a petition to members of parliament. Also in April, the Lithuanian Parliament approved an amendment of the law on research and the biotechnologies, prohibiting the import and export of embryonic stem cells and tissues.MALTA . The Church in Malta will be blessed by the proclamation of the first Maltese saint, the Rev. George Preca (Dun Gorg), on 3 June, while the Society of Christian Doctrine that he founded is celebrating its centenary this year. Born in 1880 and died in 1962, Dun Gorg exerted a great influence on the spirituality of the Maltese people. Convinced that people did not love God enough because they did not know him, he formed a youth group and began to explain to them the teachings of Jesus. This was the original core of the Society whose 1100 followers, unmarried men and women, dedicate their lives to the teaching of the catechism. With its 110 centres the Society of Christian Doctrine now reaches 20,000 children in Malta, but it has also expanded abroad and is now working in Australia, Peru, Sudan, the UK, Kenya and Albania. SCANDINAVIA. During the plenary Assembly of the Bishops’ Conference of the Nordic countries (March 2007), the bishops discussed the situation of the Catholic Church which is having to tackle many common challenges in the Scandinavian countries. The number of Catholics and immigration from Central and Eastern Europe are increasing in Sweden and Norway. The Danish Catholic community seems fairly stable, while the number of Catholics in Iceland and Finland is also increasing, though not at the same rate as in Norway and Sweden.SLOVENIA . In February Parliament finally approved the bill on religious freedom, regularizing the status of the Catholic Church and of the other religious movements, and recognizing them as organizations of public utility. On 18 April, on the occasion of Benedict XVI’s 80th birthday, the President of the Slovene Bishops’ Conference, Monsignor Alojz Uran, participated in the general audience and on behalf of the Slovene bishops invited the Holy Father to pay a visit to the country. During a press conference presenting the translation of the book The Gift of Scripture , published by the Slovene bishops, some representatives of the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Churches described the programme of events for the Year of the Bible (2007) whose celebration is now underway in the country. SWITZERLAND . The 275th ordinary assembly of the Swiss Bishops’ Conference was held in Lucerne in March. The bishops re-organized pastoral care for Polish and Philippino immigrants, discussed an analysis presented on the media in the country, and approved the translation of the Institutio generalis Missalis Romani , which will be published after its approval by the German-speaking Bishops’ Conferences and the Holy See. Texts recently published by the Bishops’ Conference include that of its Bioethics Committee, following the ruling of the Federal Court on medically assisted suicide: the bishops’ document reaffirms: “Providing assistance to suicide cannot form part of medical activity”.UKRAINE (BYZANTINE RITE ). Two meetings of the Greek-Catholic hierarchy with representatives of the religious communities and Church-run educational institutions were held respectively on 6 February and 12 April. The meetings were a follow-up to the commitment, already assumed, to develop the missionary strategy of the Greek-Catholic Church in Ukraine and in the world. On 4 April, intervening in the country’s parliamentary crisis, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar with six other representatives of the Pan-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations signed an “Appeal to the Ukrainian people” appealing for “the people not to be left without hope” and reminding the representatives of the political authorities of “their responsibilities to citizens and before God”. UKRAINE (LATIN RITE). A Symposium was held in Lvov in recent weeks on the threat represented by the sects. It was attended by the leaders of the Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Churches and representatives of Islam and of local and government authorities. There is a worrying number of sects in the country; they destroy the personality of the young, the unity of families and the fabric of society. A meeting on the role of the father in the family and in society was also held in Lvov in March, in preparation for national Father’s Day, in which the representatives of all the confessions will participate.