England: a new service for youth pastoral care During their latest meeting in Leeds a few days ago English bishops endorsed a new youth advisory body and a new bishop for youth. The “Catholic Youth Ministry Federation” (CYMF) – this is the name of the body – brings together Youth Service Directors, representatives from New Movements, Organizations and Religious Orders working nationally with young people. Bishop Kieran Conry is the Bishop for Youth currently serving the diocese of Arundel and Brighton. CYMF, that has now become an integral part of the Department for Evangelisation and Catechesis, has already attracted a £9,000 grant (approximately 1000) to develop an online training program for those working with young people at Parish, Deanery or Diocesan level in partnership with Ushaw College. The course will be modular, very accessible, and it is hoped to be launched in September 2010. But before then, on February 27 2010, is due to be held the first Congress for Catholics working with young people that will be headlined by Fr Timothy Radcliffe, Abbot Christopher Jamison, Archbishop Vincent Nichols and Bob and Maggie McCarty. The McCartys have worked in the American equivalent of CYMFed, established over 25 years ago. Romania-Hungary: the bishops’ meetingThe dialogue between the permanent Councils of the Bishops’ Conferences of Hungary and Romania, which started in 2008, was pursued in a meeting which took place from 23 to 25 November in Iasi, Romania. The Hungarian delegation was guided by Cardinal Peter Erdo, president of the CCEE and of the Hungarian Bishops’ Conference, while the Romanian delegation was headed by Mgr. Ioan Robu, metropolitan archbishop of Bucharest and president of the Romanian Bishops’ Conference. As reported in a statement issued by the two delegations, the meeting provided the chance to present the respective dioceses in regard to their “responsibilities, achievements, difficulties, vocational situation, annual initiatives and hopes”. Cardinal Erdo spoke of the difficulties facing the Roma with particular reference to their integration into society and their being “subject and object of violence”. Liturgy books and a possible collaboration were also discussed. Discussion also focused on the situation of Catholics in the diocese of Iasi and on their request to attend Holy Mass in Hungarian. The Romanian bishops replied that “everyone has the right to attend Mass in their own language” and that the fact of “belonging to the Catholic Church” “illuminates” even “the ethnic identity”. The two delegations went on to meet the Orthodox Metropolitan Teofan and see some monasteries. Next meeting is to be held in Hungary in 2010.Croatia: the bishops’ call to voteIn a message disclosed on November 24th, the bishops of the Croatian Bishops Conference invited the congregation to take part in the presidential election on December 27th. In the document, the bishops “urge the Catholic congregation to deal with the election in a deliberate, responsible way”, because voting, as well as being a “responsible civic duty”, is an opportunity “to assert the rights conquered with great efforts and generous sacrifices, not just by us but also by the older generations”. In the European integration process and in the deployment of “different forms of international cooperation”, the new President “will be responsible for acknowledging ways to preserve the Croatian sovereignty and the identifiableness of its values”, the bishops point out. “A president who does represent and protect the Christian principles may represent Croatia for the good of its citizens”, goes on the document, which also wishes for “the truth about the past, so that interpretations based on untrue facts will not be the sources of new conflicts and disagreements within the country”. Finally, “it is very important for the future President not only to clearly condemn the Fascist, Nazi and Communist crimes, but also to do all he can, through his authority and power, to shed light on the crimes of the Communist regime”.
