Italy: message for Pro-Life Day”Responding to permanent states of suffering, real or asserted, by claiming more or less explicit forms of euthanasia” is “wrong”: the point is underlined, “with serenity, but also with clarity”, by the Italian bishops, in their message for the next Pro-Life Day, due to be held on 1st February on the theme “The strength of life in suffering”. “Human life – says the statement of the permanent episcopal Council, issued today – is an inviolable and inalienable good, and the abandonment of treatment can never be legitimized and favoured, just as therapeutic obstinacy, once reasonable prospects for a cure no longer exist, cannot be justified”. On the contrary, according to the Italian Church, “the path to be pursued is that of research, which urges us to multiply our efforts to combat and vanquish pathologies – even the most difficult – and never to abandon hope”. “If suffering can be alleviated, it should undoubtedly be alleviated”, declare the Italian bishops in their statement: “in particular, all the treatments that are possible today should be applied with humanity and wisdom to the terminally ill or those suffering from particularly painful pathologies”. Germany: DBK, finance and irresponsibility”Irresponsible” forms of conduct in the field of high finance were recently criticized by Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg, President of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK). “Unimaginable sums of money suddenly disappear like soap bubbles, because those who make the decisions are not responsible for the consequences of their own actions and don’t have to account for them”, deplored Zollitsch, during a visit to Hockenheim. The archbishop also spoke up in defence of Sunday as a day of rest. “Sunday means resting and turning our spirit to God”, he declared. “The human person has a profound need for both these things”, which cannot be sacrificed on the altar of commerce or incinerated on the bonfire of often short-sighted speculations. Mgr. Zollitsch urged the faithful to support the defence of Sunday as a day of rest. “With the dramatic experiences of the crisis of the banks, we have reached a point when we need to wake up. In celebrating Sunday as a day for the veneration of God, we keep alive the deepest sense of this day and the deepest sense of our life, which transcends the material advantage”. Czech Republic: future commitmentsThe Churches of the Czech Republic intend to accompany the country’s six months’ Presidency of the EU from an ecumenical point of view. This objective emerged in the course of the plenary assembly of the Czech Catholic Bishops’ Conference, held in Prague in recent days. In all the cities of the Czech Republic in which meetings of EU ministers are held, the life of the Churches will be present as part of a programme of collateral events. During their plenary the bishops also discussed preparations for the 1150th anniversary of the arrival of the apostles Cyril and Methodius in the area now covered by the Czech Republic, due to be celebrated in 2013. The event “is linked to the historical roots not only of the Czech people, but also of the other Slav peoples”, said the bishops, who also decided to set up a commission of historians. Other issues on the order of the day included a discussion and evaluation of the recent WYD in Sydney, and of the youth meeting “ActIv 8”, held concurrently with the youth jamboree in Australia, characterized by the participation of youth both from the Czech Republic and from Slovakia who had been unable to travel to Sydney. The bishops lastly discussed the situation of the Czech Catholic community in Brussels and the initiatives of Christian Solidarity International, a humanitarian organization aimed at raising the awareness of public opinion on the persecution of Christians throughout the world and helping the victims of religious repression and humanitarian disasters.England: Christmas 2008, “something missing?”In view of Christmas 2008 the campaign “Go home for Christmas” is to be repeated by CASE, the evangelization agency of the Bishops’ Conference in England, following its success in 2007. Aimed at lapsed Catholics who haven’t gone to mass for years, the campaign takes its name from the slogan “…….something missing?” Promotional material contained in a folder, and accompanied by an autograph letter from Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, is now being prepared. “Last year we were overwhelmed by the response of parishes and are hoping for an even bigger success in 2008”, said Clare Ward of CASE, which has received hundreds of thank-you cards and letters from Catholics, who have discovered a new spiritual life thanks to the campaign.
