CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Germany: the upcoming bishops’ plenary The German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) will hold its plenary assembly in Regensburg from 27 February to 1 March, the DBK announced. During the spring session, chaired by Mgr. Robert Zollitsch, President of the DBK, the 68 members of the Bishops’ Conference will discuss various issues, including the future of the faculty of Catholic Theology. This topic will be the focus of a study day. The assembly will be the occasion to present the outcomes of a survey on the situation of the new generations of students at theological faculties. Another subject for discussion will be the process of dialogue within the Church, which will end this year with a gathering scheduled for next September. On the agenda also figure current issues, including ethics in the media and the Fund for the victims of abuse in Church-run institutions and orphanages between the Fifties and the Seventies. The Fund was set up on 2 January. The bishops will be briefed about the experiences collected so far.Ukraine: "the challenges" of Catholic University The apostolic nuncio in Ukraine, archbishop Thomas Edward Gullickson, visited the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) on 7 February, within the framework of his trip to Lviv. According to the Religious Information Service of Ukraine, he was informed about the history and activities of the institution, visited the site of construction of the new university campus, and met with the administration of the university and teachers of the Philosophic-Theological Department. "Before coming here physically, I read a lot about UCU’s activity on its website, but my personal visit was beyond all expectation. I think that UCU is faced with many challenges as it is the only Catholic University in the post-communist era of the country", said Mons. Gullickson and added that its students "must be courageous and committed to follow a path which probably nobody undertook before them".Ireland: committed to healing the wounds The Irish bishops disagree with and criticise the statement, which "grossly misrepresents the reality", according to which abuse victims have not received apologies, therapeutic support and compensations. The Irish Bishops’ Conference issued a statement yesterday to reveal the figures and costs that testify to the Irish Church’s commitment in this area. In particular, the Irish bishops mentioned the "Towards Healing" service, (formerly known as "Faoiseamh"), which is "jointly funded by bishops and religious congregations" and "provides confidential counselling and other support services to survivors of clerical, religious and institutional abuse with independent and fully accredited therapists". Counselling is offered to survivors within seven days after their initial contact with the service. The note reported that since 1997, Towards Healing (www.towardshealing.ie/site/) has provided counselling and other support services to over 5,000 survivors of clerical, religious and institutional abuse, involving 250,000 separate sessions. In 2011 alone there were 29,000 counselling sessions delivered to survivors and the figure annually is over 20,000. In addition, the Towards Healing service offers group therapy, and a bridging service designed to facilitate victims accessing other services, such as, for instance, legal services. The statement released on 8 February also explained that in 2011 bishops and religious congregations committed 10 million co-funding to the Towards Healing service over the next five years. 20 million had been spent on the confidential helpline and counselling service up to last year. In addition – the note went on – "many bishops pay for counselling for victims who prefer to use their own counsellors". In terms of the issue of compensation to abuse survivors in Ireland, "one available example is the Archdiocese of Dublin as it regularly publishes such information". The Archdiocese of Dublin is the largest diocese in the country covering 30% of the Catholic population on the island. To date the Archdiocese has provided compensation to victims amounting to 13.5 million (9.3 million in settlements and 4.2 million in legal costs). Finally, regarding the issues of apology, the statement recalled the many "bishops and congregational leaders" who "have apologised publicly and privately to survivors" and to the "civil and religious society outraged and let down by the Catholic Church’s failure of moral leadership and accountability".
