Ireland: a plan against drugsThe first national conference of the “Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative” was held on October 4 at St. Patrick’s College in Maynooth, in the county of Kildare. In 1997, in response to the problem of drug and alcohol abuse, the Irish Church decided to undertake this initiative that resulted in the creation of a national network providing counseling and support to drug-addicts and alcoholisms while last year, on the occasion of Lent, the Bishops issued a Note and a Pastoral Letter dedicated to the problem of drug addiction. The conference focused on the contribution that can be given by parishes to prevent drug and alcohol abuse, with the presentation of pilot projects conducted in parishes across the Country. Bishop Eamonn Walsh, vice-President of the “Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative”, explained that there are different ways in which parishes can work to prevent problems caused by drugs or alcoholism. One of these is the “Social Personal and Health Education Program”, a project devoted to education and health that is already used by schools in the different parishes. “If a parish offers a room to a self-help group, this is already a pastoral response to those who need help and have the right to receive it. Our project brings together spiritual and practical aspects, so that our answers consider the individual as a whole, body, mind and spirit”, Msgr. Walsh concluded.England: pro-life letters to MPs The archbishop of Cardiff, Msgr. Peter Smith, in charge of the department for Christian citizenship of the Bishops Conference of England and Wales, wrote to bishops emphasizing the salient points of the bill on human fertilization and embryology that will be the object of parliamentary debate at the end of the month. In an interview with Catholic weekly “The Universe”, Msgr. Smith explained that it’s important for Catholics to continue writing to MPs in their jurisdiction expressing their opposition to abortion, to experiments on human embryos and to the project of creating half-human and half-animal embryos. Thanks to the campaign of the pro-life movement “Passion for life”, two million cards have already been sent to Westminster. The archbishop underlined the importance of such measures since MPs are influenced by the amount of mail they receive and explained that it’s important to write reasonable rather than rude or over-dramatized letters. “We can’t tell in advance what will be the outcome of the debate on the new law”, he said. “However, in recent years a change in public opinion occurred especially with the diffusion of pictures of 10-week infants in their mothers’ womb showing the consequences of abortion, that shocked many people.” Msgr. Smith thus encouraged Catholics to support organizations linked to pro-life movements. Czech Republic: bishops’ plenary meeting Today, September 8, the 74th plenary Assembly of Bishops of the Czech Republic will be closing in Prague, the last of 2008. During the meeting, the bishops and a number of delegates of the nation’s religious orders and institutions, took stock of the situation of youth pastoral care and drew a balance of the World Youth Day in Sydney and of Activ 8, the event that was simultaneously held in Velehard, for those young people who stayed at home. The various issues addressed include cooperation with the Ecumenical Council of Churches in view of the Czech Republic’s six-month EU Presidency (January-June 2009) and Christians’ persecution in different areas of the world. The Netherlands: Utrecht, the school for deacons shuts downThe archbishop of Utrecht, Msgr. Willem Jacobus Eijk, made known that formation for deaconate in the diocese will end on July 1st 2009. The news was reported in a letter which the prelate sent to the faithful of the diocese who are interested in religious formation for the deaconate created 25 years ago. According to the document, in recent years non-remunerated permanent deaconship has decreased to the point that no requests were filed between 2007 and 2008. At present there is a total number of only six students. Given this situation, and because of the financial and organizational circumstances of the archdiocese of Utrecht, not to mention the dedication of people and the resources invested in formation for an extremely low number of students, the bishop decided that the course has no reason to exist anymore. At the same time, Msgr. Eijck underlined that he remains convinced of the significance and of the importance of permanent, non-remunerated deaconship. However, cooperation with the diocese of Haarlem is being considered to enable formation in the future.
