Italy, Germany

Italy: the bishops and agriculture”Only with God our countryside has a future!” This is the title of the message for Thanksgiving Day celebrated on November 13. The message was released on October 18 by the Bishops’ Commission for Social Problems, Labor, Justice and Peace. The Day – the bishops write in their message – is a “heartfelt praise for the fruits of the earth and for the work of man” that is addressed to the Lord. “Constant praise and noble gestures dignify those who perform the act. For us it is a duty, especially at the end of an agricultural year marked by the consequences of a serious economic and financial crisis, which is also loaded with hope stemming from the primacy we ascribe to God only”, states the document which highlights the great agricultural tradition of our Country and warns about certain misconstructions registered lately. “When God is absent in our countryside, bread is not only insufficient but it also turns into heavy stone. When we live in egoism, in the closure of our hearts and of our hands, in the latifundium of expulsions, in the pollution of our soil, in the speculation on wheat, in the illegal work of migrants, our bread becomes stone, raising gloomy, insurmountable walls”. The message is largely dedicated to the life of the farmers: “If the land is loved as a gratuitous form of love bestowed by the Lord our Father, it will be cherished by intelligent and active farmers, capable of nourishing hope, willing to invest, ‘enterprising’ also with considerable financial risks”. “In particular, we wish to convey our admiration and bless the commitment of the young entrepreneurs who have decided to return to farming, to agricultural work. There are six per cent more farmers all over Italy – the bishops write -. It is a sign of a rediscovered love for the land, which is the result of vocation”. The document also states: “these youths must be supported and accompanied” also in educational, formative and financial terms, a realm whereby “the role of the banks is decisive: notably, the noble tradition of rural and craftsman banks, which today are the cooperative credit banks”, “have greatly contributed to the transformation of the countryside”. In their final remarks the bishops point out that “rural areas should not pay a heavy toll in the ongoing, serious crisis. That’s why it’s important to give renewed impetus to cooperation, the springboard of growth in many rural areas of Italy”.Germany: pastoral care over the phoneThe “pastoral on the phone”, carried out with a hotline, fulfills Christian duties, said Msgr. Franz-Josef Bode, president of the Commission for Pastoral Care of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK), in a statement released yesterday by DBK. Msgr. Bode conveyed his thoughts on the occasion of the presentation of a survey commissioned by the Federal German Ministry for the Family, Elderly People, Women and Youth, which focused on the above-mentioned service in the framework of the European Year for Volunteering. The survey shows that approximately 80% of all volunteers are women; more than half of all volunteers are aged 30-59. Two thirds of all volunteers have a secondary school qualification, 51% obtained a university degree. Some 80% of all interviewees belong to the Catholic or Evangelical Churches, 2.9% belong to a different Christian confession, 0.5% to a different religion and 16.9% are agnostic. The toll-free line “highlights the number of people in need of someone who will listen to them. Each year, some two million people use this service”, Bose said, and added: “This commitment reposes on the Christian understanding of all human persons. Everyone is precious and counts, and no one is abandoned. God never abandons, and nor shall we”. The services provided by the Catholic and Evangelical Churches is an ecumenical service, jointly offered by the two Churches. The president of the Evangelical Conference for Pastoral Care underlined this aspect and thanked local workers, “most of whom, in an environment of ecumenical cooperation, offer precious pastoral assistance and counseling services”. Belzner added that the replies given by the volunteers in the survey “can help us boost the quality of the hotlines for those who, at a given stage of their lives, seek to carry out meaningful volunteering work”. “Every year”, he continued, “some 800-1000 people are formed for hotline support services in 150 centres. Not everyone relentlessly works for decades as volunteers in hotlines, but the average duration of volunteering services is incredibly long: from 7 to 8 years. The fact that this is not a coincidence is confirmed by the declarations of the volunteers on the level and the reasons of their happiness”, Belzner remarked.