Switzerland: pilgrimage for the unity of the Church”Peace be with you!”: with these reconciliatory words, mgr. Kurt Koch, president of the Swiss Bishops Conference, spoke to the many devotees that attended, in the Marian sanctuary of Einsieldeln on Monday 1st July, the “National Pilgrimage for the unity of the Catholic Church in Switzerland and with Pope Benedict XVI”. The pilgrimage – as stated in a release from the Bishops Conference – had been launched by the Swiss Bishops at the time the Holy See spoke of the decision to remove the excommunication of the bishops of the fraternity of Saint Pius X. A decision that caused “fierce discussions in the country on the meaning of the unity of the Church, the interpretation of the Second Vatican Council, and the attitude of the Church to a deep polarisation”. To strengthen the unity of the Church in Switzerland, the Bishops launched this national pilgrimage in Einsiedeln, which then opened the ordinary meeting of the Bishops Conference. In taking the floor, mgr. Koch invited the pilgrims not to be tempted to “close the doors and part from each other”. And he added that “a specific form” of withdrawing from others is also a “widespread formalism”.”This trend – bishop Koch explained – makes one uninterested in what someone thinks or says. A judgment has already been passed on this person, as soon as it can be allocated to a given formal category: conservative or liberal, extremist or radical, reactionary or reformer”. The formal allocation of a person to a current of thought makes “confrontation with other people’s thought not just useless but impossible”. The bishop spoke of the risk of creating “a state of siege” even within the Church, between “parties that no longer speak to each other and do not even pray together any longer”. “One decides – mgr. Koch goes on – that one cannot speak with allegedly liberal groups or groups who love this sort of labels. And on the other side just the fact that doctrinal positions come from the magisterium of the Church is enough for them to be rejected and denied even without reading or discussing them”. “This state of siege – Koch said – can only be overcome if the doors that are closed from the inside can be opened from the inside as well”.Czech Republic: “white night” in churchesThe “white night” held in 25 churches and pastoral centres of the diocese of Brno on 29 May enjoyed extraordinary public success: some 92,000 persons participated in the event. It began with the pealing of church bells at 5.45 pm. The opening ecumenical ceremony was then held in the church of St. John in Brno, in the presence of hundreds of visitors keen to spend the night in the city’s churches, amid music and meditation. The main programme was held in the city’s central “Namesti Svobody” square; to the some 20,000 people who flocked to it were distributed 3,750 cups of coffee or tea and 750 litres of water. Vojtìch Cikrle, Bishop of Brno, greeted the visitors in the sacristy of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, signing hundreds of copies of his books. Participants in the “white night” visited the bell-towers and crypts of many churches, attended concerts and lectures, and followed a wide-ranging programme of artistic events. The visitors included many who had travelled to Brno from various places throughout the Czech Republic, from Olomouc, Plzen, Ceske Budejovice, and even from abroad, some from Austria, others from Slovakia. The event was funded by the European Union and the region of southern Moravia. Spain: the mission of lay ChristiansThe “Day of Catholic Action and Secular Apostolate” was held on Sunday 31 May, coinciding with the solemnity of Pentecost, on the initiative of the Spanish Episcopal Commission for Secular Apostolate (CEAS). “Amid all the bad news of wars, exclusion and disadvantage for so many people – says a message issued by the bishops to mark the occasion – we as apostles and as members of the Church have received the incomparable task to proclaim to man in all times the Good News that God loves us and that Christ died for us!”. “With the breath of the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost – continues the message – the Church receives the mission of offering to all mankind the joyful proclamation of God’s love, mercy and salvation”. The Spanish bishops reaffirm that the primary mission of lay Christians is to “help each and every human being to discover his/her own inviolable dignity and to demand respect for human rights”, from the “sacred right to life from conception to natural death” to the “right to work and to a dignified standard of living”. “Missionary activity – insist the bishops – must begin from our personal and community lifestyle, whose centre and foundation is the meditation of the Word of God, frequent participation in the Sacraments and the contemplation of the face of Christ who died and rose again”.
