Yes to unity, no to confusion”Divisions within Christian Churches are contrary to the will of Christ who called for a single visible Church”, the Episcopal Commission for Inter-Confessional Relations of the Spanish Bishops Conference stated in a Note issued on the occasion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 18-25). For the bishops, Christians ought to continue their commitment in favour of a “visible unity inside the Church” since it is not linked to the personal initiative of the faithful. Rather, it is “the will of Christ”. The prelates declared that unity “among all the disciples of Christ” already exists since “we were all baptised in name of the Holy Trinity”. “With some Churches – as the ancient Eastern Churches and the Orthodox Churches – we share the apostolic succession in the episcopacy and the same faith in the sacraments”. In 2006 the Spanish bishops approved a number of guidelines regarding pastoral services to non- Catholic faithful from Eastern Countries. The guidelines encourage to “providing support for the pastoral care of the faithful of these Churches without aiming at proselytism”. In harmony with the guidelines, the bishops took a number of provisions in their dioceses enabling “non-Catholic brothers to celebrate the Divine Liturgy sharing the same places of worship”, or, when possible, “by making available areas for the practice of worship and for pastoral care”. In any case, one must always be conscious of one’s faith, avoiding confusion, which “is against the principle and the practice of ecumenism. Proselytism and the pretence to eliminate the differences of faith and worship, as if these were irrelevant details, go against true ecumenism”. With reference to the Churches of the Reformation, marked by improved relations, the Commission recalled the recent presentation in Madrid of the new inter-confessional translation of the Bible as the result of over thirty years marked by the joint effort of Protestant and Catholics.Like Paul before the crisis of the communities “The crisis of fraternal communities”: this is the topic chosen by the Episcopal Commission of Migrants of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference for the message that will be issued on the occasion of the World Day of Migrants. The prelates, recalling the message of the Holy Father for the Day, recall the figure of Saint Paul as a model of migrants and apostle of the peoples. Saint Paul, said the Spanish Bishops, “felt he was destined to bring the Good News of the Gospel to distant countries, with no distinction of race, culture, religions or social classes… and to establish with them fraternal communities, inspired by the same Spirit, nourished by the Word of God and by the portioning of the loaves that mark reception and communal sharing, with special attention to the weak and the needy, thus its members grow stronger to bring testimony of the Lord resurrected”. In Spain currently live over five million foreigners, the Episcopal Commission pointed out, most of whom are immigrants from over one-hundred different Countries, belonging to different religions, cultures, races and social classes… in the framework of an economic crisis whose dimensions and duration are unpredictable, with growing unemployment, whose first victims are the temporary workers, many of whom are not supported by the network of their family and their country”. In some ways, notwithstanding the differences, we witness once more “the varied, unfair, materialist, world, that is addicted to its own vices and that is similar to the world of Paul’s ministry”. Combating leprosy “Fontilles”, Valencia’s Anti-Leprosy Association, plans to allocate 1,736,000 euro for the year 2009 to international cooperation projects, representing a 68% increase compared to the year 2008, declared the Association that next week will hold the celebrations for its first centenary. International relief will mainly consist in health cooperation projects focused on leprosy and other diseases linked to poverty. Presently “Fontilles” carries out 34 cooperation projects in 22 countries. In 2008 the projects’ recipients were 9,353,058 people. In Spain 10 000 volunteers collaborate for the Association. Celebrations will begin with a local ceremony attended by the sick, religious Jesuits and Franciscans of the Immaculate who work for the Association, along with volunteers, members and politicians. The event will begin Saturday at twelve in the “Saint Francis” sanatorium of Borja of “Fontilles”, the Alicante city of La Vall de Laguar, marking the anniversary of the first sick people in the leprosy centre in 1909. Initiatives for the centenary include an international symposium that will be held January 29-30, along with the publication of a book on the history of Fontilles.
