Ccee: Catholic minorities in the South-east Europe”Rights and duties of Catholic minorities in the countries of South-east Europe” is the theme running as a thread through the whole of the meeting of the Presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences of South-east Europe that will take place this year from 25-28 February at Chisinau (in the Republic of Moldova) at the invitation of the local bishop, Mgr Anton Cosa. As reported in a statement released by the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE), nine Bishops’ Conferences will be represented: Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, the International Bishops’ Conference of SS Cyril and Methodius, Moldova, Romania, and Turkey. In the course of the meeting there will also be an intervention from the CCEE President, Cardinal Peter Erdo, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest; the Apostolic Nuncio in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, Mgr Francisco-Javier Lozano; and the Holy See’s Permanent Observer at the Council of Europe, Mgr Aldo Giordano. “In this meeting, we want to analyse the peculiar situation of the Catholic Church in those countries where we are a minority, not just to speak about the rights due to us just like any other locally recognised institution, but above all to examine the specific contribution which Catholics can and must make to the realisation of the common good in our societies”, said Cardinal Vinko Puljic, Archbishop of Sarajevo. The bishops will also analyse “the rapid on-going transformation” in their societies “which in the past have already been widely tested” and “are today threatened by a process of unbridled secularisation, which, while varying from country to country, presents some common elements”. “For example, today families in our countries must tackle new, previously little known problems, such as unemployment, emigration, alcoholism, drugs and abortion. In this context, the Catholic Church is called to encourage the maintenance of the traditional values of our peoples, to proclaim them once again and strengthen them”, added Cardinal Puljic. The meeting includes the visits to various ecclesial bodies of the Republic of Moldova: the Casa della Provvidenza, the social pastoral centre of the diocese which runs a soup-kitchen for the worse-off providing 100 meals a day; the Stauceni parish, just outside the capital, running a nursery and a help centre for the poor; and the “Regina Pacis” Cenacolo, a help centre for street children who have begun a faith journey. It is also concerned with the welcome and social re-integration of the victims of people-trafficking.Portugal: Madeira, the condolence from the Pope and the local Church43 people dead, 250 people missing, about one hundred people injured, and lots and lots of evacuees: this is the tragic outcome – still provisional – of the torrential rains that hit the isle of Madeira. In a telegram dated 23 February sent through Cardinal Secretary of State, Mgr Tarcisio Bertone, to Mgr Antonio José Carrilho, Bishop of the city, Benedict XVI expressed his grief and sympathy with the victims. “The Holy Father- reads the telegram – gives assurance of his closeness to the local community, and entrusts the victims to the mercy of God, calling for consolation and assistance to be offered to the families of the victims, the injured and to those who have lost their possessions. For those who are tried, remembering those involved in rescue and relief efforts, the Pontiff invokes God’s grace and imparts his paternal apostolic blessing”. In a press release, the bishop mgr. Carrilho expresses his “deep communion and solidarity with the population and its victims”, he describes “a scene of destruction and suffering”, in which it is important to carefully listen to the messages of alert and the advice of the authorities concerned, and acknowledges “the generous service of mission and volunteering” provided by the police, the Civil Defence and the Fire Brigade. A message of solidarity was also sent to the island’s Church and population by the president of the Portuguese Bishops Conference (Cep), mgr. Jorge Ortiga. Expressing sympathy with the “great pain caused by the death of the beloveds ones” and his “willingness to provide effective aids that may help people recover from this tragic calamity” mgr. Ortiga wishes that “all the Christian community may be able to show its solidarity with gestures of genuine closeness and sympathy”.France: the Catholic press for the Middle EastThe first Observatory on Cultural-Religious Pluralism of the Mediterranean will be created next Autumn: this is the response of the French Catholic press to the need to inform and “tell the world to the Middle East and tell the Middle East to the world”. This was revealed in Rome, last Monday, by Jean Claude Petit, president of the National Centre of the French Catholic Press, who spoke at the meeting “The future is living together”, organised by Comunità di Sant’Egidio. “The purpose of this Observatory – said Petit -, born after a long experience following several trips in the Middle East by journalists of the French Catholic press, is to raise the European public awareness of Middle Eastern issues and at the same time create a Christian networks of professionals to have direct contacts on the field. Issues will include religious freedom, the condition of the Christian minority, the respect of its rights”. Another side to the work undertaken by the future Observatory will be “to inform not just the Christian world, but also the Muslim world, of the situation of Christians in the Middle East”. In addition, in the run-up to the next Autumn deadline, Petit illustrated a number of educational initiatives for Catholic journalists, such as trips, visits, workshops and partnerships with colleagues and papers from other countries”. Special attention will be paid to the young: a trip to Lebanon has been arranged for them on April 10th for meetings and cultural exchanges with their Lebanese peers.
