Cyprus: a website for the Pope’s visitwww.papalvisit.org.cy is the website that has been launched by the Cypriote communications team in charge of reporting on Benedict XVI’s forthcoming visit to the island from 4 to 6 June. There is great expectation in the Catholic community for the first official visit of a Pope to Cyprus. The website aims to supply the media, visitors and the faithful alike with information on a wide range of topics including practical information about the spoken languages, the local currency, transports, and medical assistance. The website also features fact sheets about the Catholic community, of both the Latin and Maronite rite, the programme of the Papal visit and Benedict XVI’s biographical details. The website is updated with material developed by the team, but promoters explain that everyone is welcome to contribute with photos, videos, articles, etc. As reported on the website, “the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Cyprus will be a great opportunity to promote human and Christian principles and values, based on freedom, forgiveness, reconciliation and peace. In a spiritual disposition, ecclesiastical and cultural, we are preparing to welcome Pope Benedict XVI in our country, where his presence among us will be a blessing”. The new website is complementary to the recently renewed website of the Maronite Archeparchy of Cyprus (www.maronitearcheparchy.org.cy). England: mass for migrants on 3 MayA mass for immigrant workers will be held in Westminster Cathedral in London on 3 May, a national holiday in Great Britain. The mass will be officiated by the Catholic Primate and Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols, together with Pat Lynch, Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark and the Bishop of Brentwood, Thomas McMahon. The mass has by now become a traditional fixture in the English church calendar, having been held over the last five years, always coinciding with the feast of St. Joseph the worker. It’s preceded by a procession of representatives of the various London communities, civic and professional associations. The three London dioceses of Brentwood, Southwark and Westminster all take part in the event. London is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world which has always been home to communities of immigrants who have sought refuge there, impelled by the desire to improve their situation. Many immigrants are Catholics and that’s why the Church has always been in the front line in the defence of their rights. Bishop Patrick Lynch, responsible for the immigration sector in the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, declared that there ought to be a way for workers ‘without documents’ who have been resident in the UK for over five years “to contribute to British society”. According to the Bishop they ought to be given the opportunity to build for themselves a future in the UK and continue to contribute to British society. The Catholic Church, explained Lynch, “must concern itself with all workers, legal or not”.Austria: youth pilgrimage to Mariazell Austrian bishops have invited the young to participate in the second youth pilgrimage to the Marian sanctuary at Mariazell from 13 to 15 August. A press release issued in recent days published details of the event to be held in a centre of Marian pilgrimage particularly close to the hearts of the populations of “Mitteleuropa’. It will be a “feast of faith and of encounter”, in which some 800 young people aged between 14 and 25 will participate and in which it is now possible to enrol by accessing the website www.jugendwallfahrt.at. The pilgrimage is organized, among others, by Catholic Youth and the Movements for renewal. On the day following the inaugural celebrations on 13 August the young pilgrims will meet with the bishops “to discuss central issues on the life and faith of youth”, explained Stephan Bazalka, President of Austrian Catholic Youth. Spiritual, creative and sporting workshops have been organized for 14 August, which will conclude with a torchlight procession. The pilgrimage will end with a solemn mass on Sunday 15 August, feast of the Assumption of Mary.Germany: Renovabis, campaign for PentecostThe Pentecost campaign of Renovabis, the German Catholic charity that supports projects in Eastern Europe, was inaugurated in Frankfurt in recent days. “That they may all be one thing only” is the motto adopted for the 2010 campaign, especially focused on fostering the communion of the Christian Churches in Eastern Europe. The inaugural celebration was presided over by the Bishop of Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst. The concelebrants included the Archbishop of Sarajevo, the Most Rev. Vinko Puljic, and the Archbishop of Olomouc (Czech Republic), the Most Rev. Jan Graubner. “After the fall of Communism”, Renovabis “has helped to ensure that the Churches be newly present in Central and Eastern Europe”, said the Bishop of Limburg, also emphasizing that “wherever unity in prayer grows, there life and unity in action are also developed”. The fund-raising campaign of Renovabis, a charity founded in 1993, by now represents a traditional sign of the solidarity of German Catholics with the former Communist areas to the east. The campaign will end on Pentecost Sunday. The money collected will be used to fund the many projects being run by Renovabis in Eastern Europe.
