chURCHES IN BRIEF
United Kingdom: presentation of the new missalThe first copies of the new English translation of the Roman Missal that will be used by churches across the United Kingdom in the coming Advent were presented in London on Sunday September 18. Two copies of the Missal were presented to the Most Reverend Msgr. Vincent Nichols, President of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and to Rev. Arthur Roche, Bishop of Leeds, Chairman of the Department for Christian Life and Worship of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, and also of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL). The official presentation took place in the sacristy at Westminster Cathedral for the Anniversary of the State Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom. During the ceremony, attended by the country’s bishops and seminarians and by representatives of the Anglican Church and members of the Government, the Archbishop of Westminster warmly thanked the Catholic Truth Society (CTS) for producing the volume. The new English translation of the Roman Missal required eight years of hard work. The most relevant changes relate to the wording in the Confiteor, Gloria, Creed and Sanctus.Ireland: heading towards the 2012 Eucharistic CongressThe Catholic Church of Dublin, the Anglican Church and the Irish Methodist Church are jointly promoting the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC), due to take place in Dublin on June 10-17 2012. IEC 2012 will be represented with an ‘Ecumenical Stand’ at the 80th National Ploughing Championships in Athy. Each year, this major agricultural event provides Christian confessions with the opportunity for ecumenical cooperation. The Catholic Church, the International Eucharistic Congress 2012, the Church of Ireland and the Methodist Church in Ireland will come together in a shared space and invite people to come together to pray. Common prayer will be offered at regular intervals and a “prayer wall” will be available for people to post their prayer petitions. The IEC Bell will also be present during the Championships. The bell has travelled around dioceses and parishes as a symbol of the call to prayer, to renewal and as an invitation to the Eucharistic Congress. Fr Kevin Doran, Secretary General of the IEC said: “There is a huge amount of work to be done for 2012. I am confident, from the response we are receiving that there is a real enthusiasm for this Congress. We are asking people to put flesh on that enthusiasm by volunteering now and becoming part of this great journey”. The purpose of the Congress is “to promote an awareness of the central place of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Church, to help improve our understanding and celebration of the liturgy and to draw attention to the social dimension of the Eucharist”.Belgium: vigilance on candidates to the priesthoodIntensifying psychological profile screening of the candidates to the priesthood is yet another tool presented by the Belgian Catholic Church to prevent episodes of paedophilia. Msgr. André Léonard, Archbishop of Maline-Bruxelles, primate of Belgium, spoke of the initiative in an interview with a Belgian TV network, echoed by the Bishops’ Conference. Msgr. Léonard said that all new seminarians are compelled to undergo a psychological evaluation before beginning their studies. During the formation period they will be followed by a team of psychologists. “The Church must to its utmost to protect the children” – the Archbishop said – this is why “it has to be ever more vigilant”. In reiterating the decision, Joel Rochette, dean of the seminary of Namur, on behalf of the Bishops’ Conference welcomed the Church’s commitment to step up the psychological vigilance of candidates to the priesthood, although from the structural angle “this is no news. Psychological screening has been done for years inside the Church. The difference is that today it is made public”. The psychological analysis of the candidate is strictly confidential, and reserved to professional secrecy. Moreover, whilst he is called to establish the candidate’s eligibility for priesthood formation, the psychologist will never reveal the details of his analysis. The system yielded results. “There have been cases – continued the dean of the Namur seminary -marked by insufficient psychological- emotional balance. Such candidates were rejected”. Joel Rochette guards against the risk of “stigmatizing”. We must ensure that “candidates are not pointed at since the initial stages of their formation and that they are not considered possible offenders. That would be unjust”.
