CCEE, France, Germany

CCEE: the 40th anniversary of the foundation in RomeWith a reflection on the theme of the New Evangelization, the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences is preparing to celebrate in Rome the 40th anniversary of its foundation. It was March 25 1971 when the first CCEE directive regulations were adopted. “In those years – says Cardinal Peter Erdo, archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, current president of the European body – CCEE was an answer to the needs of the continent’s bishops to meet regularly and freely, following the experience of the Second Vatican Council”. CCEE is currently made up of 38 members: the presidents of 33 bishops’ Conferences and 5 bishops that are not members of a bishop’s Conference (Luxembourg, the Principality of Monaco, Cyprus of the Maronites, Chisinau and Mukachevo). In view of the upcoming 13th ordinary Assembly of the Bishops’ Synod in 2012, CCEE, jointly with the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization promotes a conference on Europe and the New Evangelization that will be held in Rome on Tuesday, November 22. The meeting, (that will be held in the morning at the St. Pius X building) will be opened by cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone and by card. Peter Erdo. The closing remarks will be delivered by Msgr. Rino Fisichella. From November 22 to 25 will take place the traditional “ad limina visit” of the CCEE Presidency at the Vatican dycasteries. The meeting with the Holy Father is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 23rd, upon the conclusion of the general audience.France: card. Vingt-Trois on blasphemous works”Indifference to, misunderstanding, disavowal or even rejection of Christ touch us in our love of God and men. But this wound must not and cannot ever turn into verbal abuse, or, even less, into physical abuse”. A call not to be too controversial was made by card. André Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris and president of the French Bishops Conference. In the speech given at the end of the Bishops Assembly in Lourdes, the cardinal touched on a topic that France has very much at heart and that the bishops had to work on, during their meeting. This is about the harsh controversies aroused by two plays that many Christians regarded as “blaspheme”: they are “Golgota picnic” by Rodrigo Garcia, which will open at the Théatre du Rond-Point in Paris on 8th December, and a play by Italian-born Romeo Castellucci, called “Sul concetto di volto nel figlio di Dio” (On the concept of face in God’s Son). In this play, the scene that was considered most outraging is the final scene, where a giant effigy of Christ’s face, Antonello da Messina’s ‘Salvator Mundi’, is covered in faeces. “Two plays that are very different in terms of intentions and production – card. Vingt-Trois said today – caused a stir amidst Christians. We are aware of the pain many people felt when faced with works we can hardly understand”. “But we have to face up to such events – the archbishop went on – which happen from time to time, without letting ourselves be locked up into a sort of debate in which the Church defends itself as a minority group in a plural society that is hostile to it”. The archbishop calls to reflect on the way Christ too was the victim of “adversities, violence and hatred” and to ask ourselves why, even now, His face arouses such reactions. And he adds: “No viewer can be indifferent to the outrage of such images”. But “such works force Christians to question themselves and try to understand what pursuit of God and meaning they may ever express”. And he concludes: “Such works are provocative, and such provocations hurt the sensitivity of many viewers, Christians and non Christians. The artist must explain his intentions”.Germany: “decade for peace” from November 5The commitment for peace of Christian faithful is the central theme of “Friedensdekade 2011”, the “decade for peace” inaugurated on November 5 in Regensburg with an ecumenical celebration at the city’s evangelical Church. The initiative is promoted by the Labor Community of Christian Churches (ACK). It was conceived in The Netherlands, in the 1970s, in order to step up the peace commitment of the faithful. Some 1000 initiatives will take place across Germany for this year’s edition, starting the beginning of December with the slogan “Avidity brings war”. According to a report by Catholic News Agency KNA, during the opening celebration, Msgr. Gebhard Fürst, bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, underlined that avidity is the spark that causes “a spiral of death involving individuals, groups and entire populations”. For the bishop it can be countered by means of “a successful relationship with God”. Fürst thus encouraged the faithful to “keep the message of the love of God and the love between human beings alive” thus rendering a service to peace.