Portugal: festival of peoples with migrantsMany Portuguese dioceses held a Festival of Peoples to coincide with Pentecost, with the aim of bringing together the large numbers of migrants dispersed over the territory, and show the active presence and assistance given by the Church to the integration process, while respecting the different cultural values represented by immigrants. Lisbon thus celebrated a Jubilee of Migrants, organized round the theme: “Faith knows no frontiers”. Father Delmar Barreiros, in charge of Pastoral Care of Human Mobility in the Portuguese capital, declared that “immigration is far from declining, at least in the percentage communicated by the mass media; but in none of the various communities is this datum significant”. “We can – he said – speak more of a phenomenon of mobility than of any real reduction: for a certain period the economic conditions in Spain were more favourable, and mobility towards Spain was registered, but many of these migrants showed their intention to return to Portugal, where they find favourable conditions of hospitality, protection of rights, and assistance in times of emergency and particular difficulty, especially on the part of the Church”. The bishop of Angra do Heroismo (in the Azores) said that “Pentecost shows the diversity that the Holy Spirit bestows on the peoples, though at the same time giving rise to a common language of the people of God: the organization of this multicultural festival wishes precisely to express both the diversity and unity of peoples”. “In response to the reality of immigration, acceptance is not enough: what’s needed is integration – added Mgr. Antonio de Sousa Braga: “We need to foster an environment of trustful dialogue and sincere cooperation between the nations of origin and the countries in which migrants arrive. We need to find a new model of relation and co-existence within the various peoples and nations, in which dialogue means not abdicating one’s own identity, but opening oneself to others and recognizing their diversity”.Ireland: a guide for youth ministryA document enunciating the theory, practice and method of work that the Church should adopt in her relations with youth has been published by the Irish bishops following the Ryan report, which revealed a terrible catalogue of abuses perpetrated against children. In presenting the “Framework document on youth ministry in Ireland” to a hundred youth coming from all twenty-six Catholic dioceses in Ireland at St. Patrick’s College at Maynooth, near Dublin, a few days ago, Bishop Donal McKeown pointed out that, for some of the victims of abuse, “healing will unfortunately be only a dream”. Yet, continued the bishop, “the Church wishes to continue to seek the liberating truth and the energizing grace of the Gospel of Jesus”. The “Framework document on youth ministry in Ireland” is the outcome of two years’ work by the National Committee of diocesan directors of youth and the Sub-Committee of Youth Ministry of the Bishops’ Commission for pastoral renewal and the development of the faith of adults. It also takes into account the results of a survey conducted by a team headed by Fr. Michael Kelleher, the new Provincial of the Dublin Province of Redemptorists, among youth below the age of twenty-five who form half the Irish population. This is only the start of a wider programme of coordination and guidance of all Irish Catholic initiatives involving youth. The Bishops’ Conference is about to set up an implementation group that will promote discussion of the document throughout the country. In two years’ time the framework document will be revised and a final draft completed.Romania: “Hungarian pilgrimage” in CsiksomlyoHundreds of thousands of Hungarian pilgrims gathered on May 30th in the Marian sanctuary of Csíksomlyó-Sumuleu, Romania, for the traditional Pentecost vigil. This year’s event coincided with the millennium of the archdiocese of Gyulafehérvár-Alba Iulia. The vigil was opened by the archbishop of Alba Iulia, Msgr. György Jakubinyi, who, whilst recalling the motto “One-thousand years with Christ”, told attendants that a “Christian future” is an objective that ought to be pursued with prayers and commitment. The prelate made known that a special envoy will represent the Pope for the Jubilee celebrations of next September 29. The homily was pronounced by the Hungarian archbishop of Kalocsa-Kecskemét, Msgr. Balázs Bábel, who explained the reason for his presence, underlining the deep historical bonds that united Alba Iulia and Kalocsa-Kecskemét – of which it was a suffragan dioceses – for centuries, until Hungary ceded Transylvania to Romania with the end of World War I. “Those who share the faith in Christ have a common destiny – said the Hungarian prelate -. For one thousand years this nation has been gathering in the Sanctuary of Csíksomlyo, and these Hungarian-speaking Christians from across the world have lived one thousand years with Christ”.
