Portugal: for a new evangelization The bishop of Porto, Msgr. Manuel Clemente, received with enthusiasm Benedict XVI’s announcement on the creation of a Pontifical Council for the new Evangelization. “It’s an initiative which implies major opportunities and which demands a strong commitment on behalf of the entire Church”, he commented. “For far too long evangelization was understood within two fields of action, namely, in those areas considered as being Christian, with their own structured dioceses occasionally animated by popular missions and by the missions ad gentes, addressed to first-evangelization Overseas Territories, organized by specific congregations”, said the President of the Episcopal Commission for Cultural Property, Culture and Social Communications. “John Paul II had wished to extend Gospel proclamation to a third sector, notably ancient-evangelization areas where faith vivacity and daily Christian experience had been lost and a new evangelizing imprint needed to be recovered in the apostolic zeal, methods and expressions”. Msgr. Manuel Clemente recalled the apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Europa (2003), and highlighted the harmony with the papal initiative, capable of uniting and strengthening the creative intention of the spirit and content of the pastoral letter “For a missionary face of the Church in Portugal”, recently published by the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference (CEP). “In the letter, the Portuguese bishops acknowledged that the Gospel of Jesus is increasingly less known in our lands. It is a worrying scenario which demands the urgent presence of the Church in our cities along with the active presence of men of faith with a new evangelizing culture, marked by a far greater incisiveness than the one implemented through pastoral activity solely based on maintenance and defence”, concluded the bishop of Porto. Czech Republic: the bishops’ plenary The plenary meeting of the Czech Bishops’ Conference concluded on July 3rd in Vehlerad. The formation of priests, the Bible for the youth and the preparations for the various events due to take place in the coming years were at the centre of the works. The assembly opened July 2 with a reflection of the auxiliary bishop of Prague Msgr. Václav Malý and continued with an address by the archbishop of the capital Msgr. Dominik Duka, President of the Bishops’ Conference, who underlined the strong impact of the Pope’s visit to Czechia in 2009. Duka reiterated the Church’s availability to find a just solution, convenient for both. The archbishop presented the project “The Bible for the youth” in cooperation with a Carmelitan publishing house. The bishops also adopted the draft directive on marriage preparation, whose guideline handbook is due to be issued within the coming six months. The bishops were updated on the preparations for the international meeting of the permanent deacons, which will take place in Vehlerad in 2013, along with the preparations of the 1150th anniversary of the arrival of the Saints Cyril and Methodius in Moravia, due to be celebrated in 2013. To this regard a commission will be set up which includes the apostolic exarch of the Greek-Catholic Church, bishop Ladislav Huèko. The Eucharistic Congress in 2013 will be the apex of the celebrations in honor of the Saints Cyril and Methodius. Poland: the pilgrimage of hearing-impaired people “In our daily lives we often long for affirmation at all costs. Our fellow-other is not seen as a brother but as a competitor, an adversary and an enemy. In order to sever the roots of fear, hatred and anger we must repose on the principle of love”, said Msgr. Zygmunt Zimoski, President of the Pontifical Council for Health workers, in the homily for the Mass celebrated July 3rd in Kalkow (Poland), during the pilgrimage for hearing-impaired people, organized by the pontifical dycastery. “To deepen our love for God and for our fellow-other”, is the prelate’s invitation to participants, in the acknowledgement that “man needs love as much as he needs daily bread”, also “in those places where accord, peace, benevolence and love prevail”. Indeed, in the name of love for our fellow-other “we must remain close to those who are alone, who have no more strength to convey their suffering, and who fail to find the meaning of life”. “Too often contemporary Christians draw distant from the order of Christ”. It is therefore necessary to recover “the lifestyle where evil is exchanged with goodness” without excluding anyone from the sphere of our love”. Even the hearing-impaired people – concluded Msgr. Zimoski recalling the Holy Father’s recent message to the hearing-impaired community – are called to proclaim and bear witness to the Gospel, in response to Jesus’ commandment: “you shall love one another”.
