England: a website to encourage children to go to Mass Case, the “Catholic agency to support evangelism”, which is part of the Bishops Conference of England and Wales, opened a website aimed at reaching out to children aged 10-13 who don’t go to Church. According to recent data, Sunday morning Mass for children no longer exists in many parishes where an increasingly lower number of youth attend festive rites. The website, that goes under the name of “Yfaith”, will be inaugurated next July. Its purpose is to provide to the younger generation a space to pray and explore how faith enters their everyday lives; to make them feel part of a community and involved by telling them that as Catholics they can give their contribution to the rest of the world. The website managers encourage young Catholics to send in news, articles, stories, blogs, film or book reviews and share their faith experiences. Those who take part in this initiative will receive a pen and a shirt and some may be invited to the event for the website’s presentation. “We are seeking creative youth who need answers to their questions and wish to enjoy themselves too”, said the initiative’s coordinator Emily Davis. “Even those who are older than the age group the website is intended for, can participate provided they are willing to write for a younger audience”. “We hope to involve the youth in the life of the Church”, Davis added, “and to keep them informed. This is a difficult age during which many stop going to church. We consider this a way to reach out to them”. Germany: an ethical evaluation of off-shoring Transferring production and service performance abroad with the subsequent loss of employment was the object of a survey presented these past days in Magonza. The event was attended by cardinal Karl Lehmann and by professors Gerhard Kruip and Bernhard Emunds. The document was drawn up by a group of experts in world economy and social ethics, which is part of the Universal Church Commission of Germany’s Bishops Conference. Two main aspects of off-shoring were examined: on the one side, there are economic advantages for the Developing Country, while on the other hand, there is employment loss in industrialized Countries. According to the survey, it’s still difficult to envisage the definitive consequences of employment delocalization in Germany. “The workers affected by this process should not be abandoned. They ought to be adequately compensated for having lost their jobs. The State and the economic sector must ensure that these people access the job market again by providing ongoing training”. According to the survey, the most serious concern regarding off-shoring is a quality decrease in the relationship between the employers and the employed. The possibility of delocalizing employment benefits the companies to the detriment of workers unions. The survey proposes to grant workers the right to take part in consultations regarding the transferal and to submit appraisement carried out by their own experts. For most developing countries having the possibility of being linked to world economy represents “an important contribution in the fight against poverty”. However, the attitude of companies, which temporarily transfer their offices to increase their profits is “ethically loathsome”. According to Kruip, scientific advisor of the German bishops, an important criterion to evaluate off-shoring is “the option for the poor”. “If transferring employment in Poor Countries benefits individuals, this must be accepted even though it disadvantages us”, he concluded. France: Lourdes, crossroads of dialogue and peaceOn May 22-25 Lourdes, which this year celebrates the 150th anniversary of Mary’s apparitions, will be jointly hosting for the first time the “Universities of Peace” and the International Military Pilgrimage. The events’ presentation took place in Rome at the presence of Michel Azot, deputy-mayor of Lourdes and founder of the “University of Peace” and of father Jean Louis Thèron, director of the military pilgrimage. “For the past eight years the “Universities of Peace” have been bringing together in the Marian sanctuary personalities of the academic, political and economic world. The purpose is “to transform dialogue in a form of conflict prevention and turn peace into an engine for the development of all peoples. This year Ukraine and the Countries of the Balkan region are the protagonists of the event. The international military pilgrimage is an event which for the past 50 years has brought to Lourdes the military from all over the world. At the moment, 22,000 soldiers from 40 different countries registered for the 2008 event. In presenting the initiative, Father Thèron explained the paradox of linking the topic of peace to the Pilgrimage of the military: “nobody knows the tragedies of war and the happiness of peace more than a soldier does. A large number of events are scheduled in this year’s programme. The pre-eminent place given to prayer will show the world that peace is possible”.
