Italy: Catholic missions in EuropeStarting out from the experience of Italian emigrants, who know very well the reality of human mobility, “we will try to understand better” what is meant by “living in Europe, sharing an anthropological grammar and working together for the common good”. That’s how the Italian Catholic Missions of Germany, Switzerland, Benelux and England explain the objectives of the European seminar and meeting on “For what person? Itineraries of sharing and solidarity in diversity” due to be held at Lyon from 15 to 21 September in collaboration with the Migrantes Foundation, INAS-CISL (National Institute of Social Assistance), ACLI (Italian Christian Workers Association) and FAI (Italian Fund for the Environment). The aim of the meeting is to “contribute to reflection on the economic, cultural and social phenomena that individuals, families and communities are experiencing in Europe. Marginalization, poverty, inequality and injustice are increasing”. That’s why “social questions and problems of citizenship” are assuming “a new centrality, characterized as they are by the problems linked to growing mobility, old and new, that impact on the intercultural and interreligious contexts with which we need to dialogue and come to terms”. According to the promoters of the initiative, “those who work today in the social field cannot fail to ‘network’, because only by uniting forces can our efforts to promote the human person be made effective”. The seminar-meeting of the Italian Catholic Missions in Europe is in two parts, one formative in aim, the other conference-based. It was preceded by a series of national meetings. According to the “Italians in the World” Report of the Migrantes Foundation, over two million Italian emigrants resident in Europe have maintained their Italian citizenship: Germany is the leading country of Italian emigration with some 600,000 Italians. As far as the Church is concerned, 214 pastoral structures are active in the Old Continent; 121 Italian diocesan priests and a hundred or so religious clergy are employed in them; half of the latter are members of the Congregation of Missionaries of St. Charles, founded by Mgr. Scalabrini. France: youth and the meeting with the PopeTo coincide with Benedict XVI’s forthcoming apostolic journey to France for the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of Lourdes (12-15 September 2008) and just a few weeks after WYD in Sydney, French dioceses have organized a series of events for youth. Before going to Lourdes the Pope will spend two days in Paris (12 and 13), and on the evening of the 12th he will meet the youth who have gathered in front of the cathedral of Notre-Dame. They will also participate in a vigil and a torchlight procession (“Way of Light”) that will start out from the cathedral at midnight and make its way to the Esplanade des Invalides. “Going to a meeting with the Pope is not of course like going to a meeting with a star – points out Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon -; rather, it is in the nature of a spiritual journey, a kind of pilgrimage”. Hence the invitation to the youth of his diocese to “a 24 hours in Paris or a 48 hours in Lourdes” in the certainty of their “total commitment” so that “the spiritual fruits of this meeting may be to the benefit of all”. A “pilgrimage-visit” is the proposal of the diocese of Rennes which has organized a journey to Paris: after the vigil and the torchlight procession the youngsters will be accommodated in a lycée in the capital. The Focolare Movement is organizing a similar trip to Paris for the youth of Strasbourg who will camp at Bruyèle le Chatel to reflect – before the meeting with the Pope – on the theme “You called me: here I am”. “Adoramus te”, in turn, is the title of the “Youth Festival” promoted at Lourdes by the Emmanuel Community, in collaboration with the Saint-Jean Community: a mixture of concerts and moments of prayer. The vigil of adoration on Saturday 13 September will be led by Cardinal Barbarin.Spain: towards WYD 2011″A call to responsibility”: that’s how WYD in Madrid in 2011 is defined by the Bishop of Siguenza-Guadalajara, Jose Sánchez Gonzáles in a pastoral letter to youth. According to the bishop, it’s time to “begin to prepare for this event of grace”, not forgetting “the richness of the Pope’s teaching” at WYD 2008. WYD, continued the bishop, “is not a show, but represents a special moment of grace. It’s an act of faith and of communion, a gift of God, a present to youth and to the Church”. Archbishop Francisco Pérez González of Pamplona, national director of the Pontifical Mission-Aid Societies of Spain, has written a letter to Benedict XVI, in which he describes the experience of the 800 Spanish youth from various dioceses who met at Javier di Navarra in tandem with WYD in Sydney 2008. “A thousand thanks – writes the Archbishop – for having chosen Madrid for WYD 2011: we pledge to show to the world and to society that faith in Christ is the best gift we have received”. The Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, has asked the public authorities (government, autonomous community and mayor of Madrid) for “aid” for the holding of the next WYD, for which “a considerable presence of youth” can be envisaged”.
