France: the bishop of Evry on fasting and elections Given March’s upcoming regional elections and on the occasion of Lent, which requires moments of fasting, Msgr. Michel Dubost, bishop of Evry and President of the Commission for Justice and Peace, highlights Christians’ responsibility before the Creation and calls for a more sober lifestyle in order to “humbly prepare for the debate”. “Past December 19 many of us were disappointed”, writes the bishop in a Note. “Copenhagen’s Climate Conference ended under the banner of indefiniteness and failure. The Kyoto agreements are due to expire in 2012” and “no plans for their continuation or development have yet been made”. According to Msgr. Dubost “The Creation is the gift of God and man is but its administrator”. For this reason “we cannot be satisfied with the outcome of Copenhagen. Christian faithful ought to be “impatient”; not motivated by “fear, but by the yearning for justice towards mankind”. Impatience must be accompanied by faith. “Politicians’ pessimism is mortal. They can and must change the course of things with the support of public opinion. Fatalism doesn’t belong to Christianity. Copenhagen’s failure is not due to the climate but to faulty relations between the rich and the poor”, pointed out the bishop of Ebry. It is therefore necessary “not to rest on laurels and address the question”. There have been praiseworthy “proposals for sober, fair and equal consumption … but the core of the problem is political”, the prelate remarked. Msgr. Dubost stressed: “the upcoming general elections are an occasion for democratic debate. This we must demand, while rejecting all slogans that thwart reflection. We ought to commit ourselves, and study”. “They cannot prevent me from viewing fasting as a way to prepare for debate with a spirit of humbleness, acknowledging new solutions” concluded Msgr. Dubost referring to the Lenten period that has just begun.Ukraine: increased religious freedom for convicts Owing to the entry into force of amendments in the penal Code, convicts in Hungary are expected to enjoy new rights. These include the right to greater religious freedom. The new regulations adopted with Parliament vote on January 21st and recently ratified by the Head of State, envisage the integration of art. 7, which outlaws detainees’ discrimination “for reasons related to race, skin color, political and religious beliefs, gender, status and place of residence”. Another amendment rules that “religious and citizens’ associations, along with humanitarian organizations”, within the “terms provided for by Ukraine’s legislation and Penal Code” can offer their support “to prison authorities as relates to convicts’ correction and in the activities aimed at their social reeducation”. A new paragraph of the article regards the celebration of religious liturgies and ceremonies in prison. Accordingly prisons’ administrations must not “express their opinions on religions”. In June 2009 UGCC, in conjunction with the State Department for Penalty enforcement, the International Catholic Commission for Pastoral care in prisons (ICCPPC) and the Christian Mission for penitentiary assistance in Ukraine promoted in Kiev the international congress on “The legal dimension of ministry in detention centers”. The purpose of the initiative, recalled UGCC, is “to ensure the humanization of penitentiary policies” in the Country. Germany: the new “home” of the Guanellians A reality that involves some 200 alumni in Italy’s Guanellian home of Naro (Sicily) and Ceglie (Puglia), in conjunction with some twenty cooperators from Germany. It is the new Guanellian Missionary Office that opened in Tiefenbronn (in the Land of Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany), 15 km away from the border with France. The purpose of the initiative, described by the promoters as the “Charity home”, is to collect funds for projects submitted by Guanellian Provinces linked to the missions in Africa and Asia. “It was founded in embryonic state in 1992” said Gero Lombardo 74, of the Guanellian lay movement and alumni, who has been living in Germany for 40 years. “We started fund-raising for small and large projects in Mexico and Chile and then in Honduras, where we renovated the premises of a home for street children”. The Mission Office was granted approval by Msgr. Rainer Klug, the auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Freiburg, Germany, and by the Missionary Offices Association of the 120 religious orders operating in Germany. It has its own website and is linked with Lutheran and Catholic charity agencies. Recently the Medical and Dental Fund donated a 40 thousand euro grant to the Home for the Disabled in Quezon City, Manila. The Office’s forthcoming plans include a seminar in England for the presentation of Guanellian charisma and the gradual expansion across Germany.
