Italy, Poland, Austria

Italy: the prolusion of card. BagnascoTsunami and the nuclear disaster in Japan, the Libyan crisis, the arrival of immigrants in Southern Italy, Christians’ persecution in world countries, the celebrations for the Country’s 150th anniversary, the defense of life and of the family. These were the main topics addressed in the prolusion of CEI President Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, on the occasion of the Permanent Council of the Italian Bishops’ Conference held in Rome March 28-31. “In their darkest hours, the Japanese people imparted a formidable lesson to the world in terms of composure, determination and solidity. This has appropriately been described as ‘the discipline of suffering'” His Eminence said. Speaking about Italy and of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the country’s unification, the Cardinal recalled “the singular vocation that the Almighty Providence of God has bestowed upon this blessed Land” along with the contribution offered by Catholic faithful for its reconstruction as a united country. As regards the ongoing turmoil in North African countries and across the Mediterranean, notably the armed conflict in Libya, Cardinal Bagnasco said he hopes that “the cruel phase will be rapidly overcome” also to ensure “access to indispensable humanitarian relief in a framework of justice”. He then underlined that given the surging number of refugees from the areas of conflict “the entire ‘community’ should be involved in the emergency”. As regards the ruling on the crucifix issued by the European Court of Human Rights, His Eminence said: “The religious symbol per se does not entail a violation of rights”. In fact, “it is part and parcel of Italian identity, thus also of European identity”. The cardinal dedicated the final part of his prolusion to the themes of life, addressing the ongoing debate on “living will”. To this regard, he said: “It is a question of setting specific limits and constraints to the ‘creative jurisprudence’ that is already introducing authorizations regarding behaviors and choices on life and death, which therefore cannot be entrusted to individual arbitrary decisions”. As regards the family His Eminence pointed out that “notwithstanding personal freedom, nobody in the public realm can take decisions that could overshadow family unity: the linchpin of a realistic future development”.Poland: the bishops’ appeal to national unity”John Paul II is the cornerstone of our unity”, said the leaders of the Polish episcopacy on the eve of commemorations for the death of Karol Wojtyla, that precedes by a few days the first anniversary of the Smolensk air crash that caused the death of the president of Poland Lech Kaczynski and of 95 national personalities. The dynamic of the disaster has been debated for months, as authorities in charge of investigations have not yet ascertained its causes. In a press conference organized for the next anniversaries the Archbishop of Warsaw Msgr. Kazimierz Nycz underlined that this year’s commemoration of the death of the Polish pope “must be viewed under a different angle compared to previous years. In fact, it must be remembered that the day of death is also the day of the birth of the new Blessed”. The prelate said he hopes that the different way of worshiping the deceased Pontiff can apply also to the case of the victims of the Smolensk air crash. Next April 10 suffrage Masses for the victims of the plane crash will be celebrated in Warsaw, Krakow, and in other Polish cities. The Secretary of the Polish Bishops’ Conference Msgr. Stanislaw Budzik, recalled how important Polish national unity was for John Paul II: “When we gathered in prayer for the Smolensk tragedy and the entire world praised us for this, we said it was something we had learned with the death of the Pontiff. But we then forgot the lesson, and began confronting each other”.Austria: a kilometer-race for CaritasRacing to collect money for the poor. It is the initiative of Austria’s “youngCaritas”, the chapter of the organization dedicated to children and young people. With the “LaufWunder” campaign (literally “the miracle of race”), children commit to find sponsors that will make offerings for each kilometer they have run. With this initiative, due to begin on May 20, young men and women “are launching a strong signal to attract attention on the theme of poverty”, states a release issued by the Caritas in Vienna to present the initiative. The collected sums will be used to fund Caritas relief projects in Austria and abroad. The children will decide to which project they wish to devolve the sponsored kilometer. The fund-collection campaign will take place across the Country. In the 2010 edition 10 thousand took part in the student-teachers initiative – collecting a total sum of 250thousand euro.