France: Ash Wednesday as a sign of fragility and hope"For Christianity states a Note of France’s Bishops’ Conference – Lent is a time devoted to preparations in view of Easter. It lasts forty days (not counting Sundays) and precedes Easter Sunday, that celebrates Christ’s Resurrection, the heart of Christian faith". The bishops call upon the faithful to celebrate Ash Wednesday (February 25 this year) as a "highly meaningful" event, whose "fundamental significance resides in personal conversion and in the spiritual mobilization of Christian communities". As relates to the distribution of ashes during Mass, the bishops wrote: "While ashes represent human frailty, they are also a sign of hope in the mercy of God". "Lent primarily signifies an inner renewal in view of Easter Celebrations. The Church calls upon the faithful to live this period by praying, sharing and fasting". The bishops recalled that while in 2008 pope Benedict XVI underlined the dimension of sharing, this year’s message for Lent focuses upon the value of fasting "which helps us acknowledge the situation experienced by many of our brothers". The bishops invited the faithful to take part in the many solidarity initiatives launched by the French Church and available online by logging on: www.eglise.catholique.fr. Italy: employment for 3000 youth in the South Meeting the needs of Southern Italy, especially in the case of youth facing a situation of severe unemployment. This initial thrust led three national offices of Italy’s Bishops Conference CEI – (the pastoral for social questions and employment, youth pastoral and Italy’s Caritas chapter) to draw up the Policoro Project. Much progress has been made since then and in the past few days the regional representatives of the Project convened to assess its contents and methods. The Project took root in most dioceses of Southern Italy and promoted the establishment of over 400 job experiences (consortium, cooperatives, enterprises…) that provide employment to some 3000 youth. The achievements of the past 14 years "highlights the economic and social value of the ecclesial initiative", declared Msgr. Angelo Casile, Director of the CEI Office for Social Questions and Employment. "Thousands of young people, mostly women, are actively involved in the Project. This is a clear sign of cultural development marked by hope, legality and solidarity", he pointed out. The Project enjoys the cooperation of lay associations: such as GIOC – Young Christian Workers; the workers’ Movement of Catholic Action (MLAC); the Youth of ACLI (Italy’s Christian Workers’ Association); COLDIRETTI (Farmers’ movement), just to mention a few. The Policoro Project "made possible the realization of concrete actions of solidarity, which however don’t pretend to solve problems that are not within specific Church jurisdiction. Rather, these actions ought to be viewed as authentic signs leading to the achievement of just solutions, and as a means to raise public awareness over the responsibilities and capacities placed at the service of the community", he concluded. Spain: Church contributions on the increase In the past year an additional 500 thousand Spanish taxpayers decided to give 0.7% of their taxable income to the Catholic Church. Spain’s Bishops Conference (CEE) that released data on income tax returns submitted in Spring 2008 (concerning 2007 income) gave the news. On the whole, 6.958.012 taxpayers signed the "asignación tributaria" in favour of the Catholic Church, representing 34,38% (compared to 33.45% registered the previous year). According to estimates, over 8.500.000 taxpayers decided to transfer a part of their taxable income to the Church past spring. Thus, the Catholic Church received 241,3 million euro, compared to 173,8 million euro received the previous year.
