Greece: one Catholic in the ParliamentOne Catholic in the Greek Parliament, the second in one hundred years’ history. One of the MEPs elected from the winning party, the Pasok, in Greece on October 4th, is Giorgio Papamanolis, 53, born on the isle of Syros. “His presence as a MEP is a message to the Greek Catholics – says to SIR Europe the president of the Greek Bishops Conference (GBC), mgr. Franghiskos Papamanolis, who is the new MEP’s paternal uncle -. It will certainly be everyone’s voice. However, we should not forget the problems Greek Catholics have here, in this country. Problems that have been overcome, at least this once – the bishop adds -, as the voters actually elected the man, regardless of his religion”. The president of the Greek Bishop Conference reveals that Giorgio Papamanolis “has also been congratulated by the other Catholic politician of the New Democracy party, which has been defeated by the polls. When having to compose the tickets, the latter had not accepted to stand as a nominee, indirectly favouring the Pasok nominee”. Official results show that the socialist party led by Papandreou got 43.9% votes, followed by the New Democracy party (ND) of the outgoing prime minister Kostas Karamanlis, with 33.49% votes and 91 seats. Third of the list is the communist Kke group (7.53% votes and 21 seats). Fourth of the list is the far right party, the Laos, which got a hefty 5.6%.Northern Ireland: Good Friday agreements are going on”We are about to complete the Good Friday agreements. The transfer of legale and police powers from Westminster to the Northern Irish assembly is the last step in the building of a fair society”. This is how the Redemptorist father Gerry Reynolds of Clonard Monastery, Belfast, which over the last few months has been home to some key peace negotiations which have brought the different Catholic parties closer together, commented for SIR Europe the visit of 12th October of the US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, to Belfast. Ms Clinton encouraged the Protestant Party, the “Dup”, and the Catholic Party, the “Sinn Fein”, to come to an agreement on the transfer of legal and police powers, a key point of the peace process, stating however that the two parties will have the last word. While the “Sinn Fein” said he would welcome an immediate transfer of power, the Dup submitted, a few days ago, a number of requests that had to be fulfilled before it would give the go-ahead to the agreement. “The peace-building work is not over yet – Father Reynolds adds -, but it is important that the structures agreed on by the two parties are in place”. According to the Redemptorist father, “the situation in Belfast is increasingly relaxed. The few episodes of violence that still occur are committed by mavericks and are not to be blamed on any organisation”.Spain: Madrid rally for the right to lifeA series of playful, academic and general information initiatives to raise the families’ awareness about the attendance of the great rally due to take place in Madrid, Spain, on Saturday 17th October for the right to life, for women and for motherhood. They are being proposed over these days by “Right to Live” (Dav), which is leading Saturday’s initiative and has been joined by over 40 Spanish civilian organisations and will be focussed on the motto, “Every life matters”. The organisers’ goal is to encourage the greatest possible mobilisation for what is considered to be one of the most widely shared events in democratic life. The initiatives planned for these days include the presentation by Gádor Joya, Dav spokesperson, of an information notice on the development of birth rates, international adoptions and the number of abortions in Spain since 1985. The Catholic schools of Madrid too, in a release, announced they will join Saturday’s rally and denounced the government’s demand to extend the current abortion law. “When laws fail to protect life – the release states -, the time has come to increase education even more. Because we believe in it and for us, as Catholic schools, that is our special place to work in”.Romania: national priest meeting “Priesthood, charismatic service and institutional ministry”: this is the theme of the national meeting of Romanian Catholic priests to be held at the Carmelite monastery in Snagov, near Bucharest, from 13 to 16 October. The meeting, which is being attended by 80 priests from 10 out of the 11 dioceses and eparchies of Romania, is going to begin today with the celebration of the Holy Mass. The programme includes moments of prayer, conferences on the theme and group discussions. The national meeting was promoted by Romanian bishops from both rites (Roman and Greek-Catholic) during the spring session of the Romanian Bishops’ Conference (last May). It is held in the framework of the Year for Priests with 5 more meetings to be hosted by other Romanian dioceses or eparchies. “The Catholic Church in Romania is a complex reality – reads a statement released by the Roman-Catholic Archdiocese of Bucharest – with various rites and different ethnic groups. According to the intentions of the Romanian bishops, these national meetings will provide an occasion for priests to pray together, but also the possibility to get to know each other and to discuss”. Conferences are held by both Greek-Catholic and Roman-Catholic bishops and so are the Masses that are going to be celebrated in the upcoming days.
