CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Poland: the 24-hour Bible MarathonThe 24-hour Bible Marathon held in the Church of the Most Holy Name of Mary in Czestochowa during the 3rd Biblical Week came to a close on May 14. The event is part of a thanksgiving initiative by the Polish Church for the beatification of John Paul II. According to Fides news agency, for 24 hours the representatives of the Catholic Church (bishops Jan Wtroba and Antoni Dlugosz), representatives of Christian Churches (that include Fr Miroslaw Drabiuk, the parish priest of the Orthodox church dedicated to the Miraculous Icon of the Madonna of Czestochowa), representatives of the cultural and media sectors (i.e. the Catholic Weekly “Niedziela”), teachers, young people, representatives of consecrated life, members of Catholic movements and associations from the Archdiocese of Czestochowa, read passages from the Sacred Scriptures. “We wish to carry out this initiative not only for a Bible marathon. We want it to be an act of devotion towards Jesus present in the Word of God”, said Miroslaw Topolski, one of the organizers of the event. “It is necessary that not only the Word of God is read by each one of us, but that this Divine Word in some way touches our hearts”.Germany: 98th edition of the Katholikentag in 2012 The 98th edition of the Katholikentag, the meeting of German Catholics, will open on May 16 2012. “Daring is a new beginning” is the title of the event. “We are aware of the fact that it’s a very ambitious slogan and that there are many expectations, especially given the present situation of the Catholic Church”, said Martin Stauch, director of the Katholikentag Office that organized the event, in an interview posted on the Catholic portal “katholisch.de”. “We do not wish to focus solely on internal questions of the Church. We intend to address the possibility of changes across society along with the Churches’ contribution to this regard”. Stauch said that as relates to the event, ongoing until May 20 2012, “the process of dialogue plays an important role. And that’s how it should be! It’s certainly not accidental that also the official commencement of the dialogue process will be celebrated in Mannheim next July”. “I personally hope that the Katholikentag will occasion interesting thrusts to the dialogue process”, concluded Stauch.Slovakia: the Jesuits’ 450th anniversarySpecial celebrations will mark the 450th anniversary of the Jesuits’ arrival to Slovakia. A special rubber stamp was released by Slovakian Post Offices that will be used on mail in Trnava, the city that experienced the most remarkable blossoming of the ancient religious community in the region. The stamp, which bears a fragment of an ancient Jesuitic emblem with the letters IHS and the inscription Societas Iesu with the year 1561, will be available at the central post office of Trnava from May 20. The most important celebrations will begin on May 22 with a Mass in the Cathedral dedicated to St. John the Baptist, presided over by the archbishop of Trnava, Msgr. Robert Bezak. The stamp’s graphics are the work of Jesuit Fr Adrian Contofalsky. It is an initiative launched by the Christian Philatelic Society in Slovakia, aimed at reminding citizens of the Jesuits’ significant cultural and spiritual contribution to the region. England: the bishops’ plenaryLast week at Hinsley Hall (Leeds) took place the plenary meeting of the bishops of England and Wales. The meeting centered on the objectives of the Bishops’ Conference for the next five-year period, the commemoration of the first anniversary of the Pope’s Visitation and the beatification of John Henry Newman ( September 18). On that occasion the prelates decided to encourage the faithful to resume abstention from eating meat on Fridays starting September 16 2011. During the Assembly the bishops discussed the “Lineamenta” of the 13th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (Vatican October 7-28), dedicated to the new evangelization and appointed Msgr. David McGough as delegate to the Eucharistic Congress due to be held in Dublin from June 10-17 2012. The Assembly voiced concern over the fact that religion was not included in the “English baccalaureate” course introduced a few months ago, whereby students aged 14-16 are enabled to study broader subject matter compared to the past. The bishops equally mentioned the ongoing economic crisis in the Country and for this purpose “Caritas Social Action Network” launched a consultation with the dioceses, with CAFOD, the charity of the Catholic Church of England and Wales for the Third World, to offer practical advice for the next bishops’ meeting in November 2011. The meeting in Leeds will be attended for the first time by the new Apostolic nuncio to Great Britain Msgr. Antonio Mennini.
