CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Poland: the IX Assembly of Gniezno “The European integration process suffers insufficient commitment on the part of civil society”, said the organizers of the 9th Assembly of Gniezno, the city that was once the capital of Poland, ongoing from March 16 to 18. In the presence of Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and of card. Kazimierz Nycz, Metropolitan of Warsaw, participants in the meeting held under the auspices and with the contribution of Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski will contribute to the reflection on Christians’ constitutive role in civil society. Personalities invited to the Assembly include the ex president of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek as well as Christian Churches dignitaries and leaders of civil organizations who bear witness to their commitment as Christians and citizens in their daily lives. Those who conceived the common Assembly said they believe "as Christians, Poles and Europeans", that the construction of the common good "requires the recognition of the public feature of religion and of its irreplaceable role as a source of goodness for the whole of society, and as the fountainhead of values leading to freedom such as honesty, truth, fulfilment of obligations, sacrifice, generosity, laboriousness, respect of other people’s dignity and of their diversity, solidarity". The organizers highlighted the importance "of dialogue and the ability to come to an understanding whilst preserving personal identity". Moreover, the Assembly wishes to find the answers to questions on how civil society evolves also in the framework of the Church, how to develop and the potential of parishes and boost the Church in her deep spirituality linked to her responsibility for the whole world. The Assembly of Gniezno, state its promoters, "will also serve as an occasion for encounter and sharing with all those that draw the respect for the same values from different sources, i.e. other religions", whilst nurturing equal concern for modern democracies that "necessitate values, conscience and people capable of discerning good and evil”. Belgium: the bishops’ sorrow for the deaths in Switzerland Belgium’s bishops share the grief that upset the country at the news of the horrible tragedy that happened in Switzerland, in the first hours of March 14. A bus carrying Belgian students crashed in a tunnel wall in the Swiss Valais canton causing the death of 28 people. Another 24 students were injured, some of whom are in serious conditions. The students were returning to Belgium after a ski vacation. "The bishops states the release by the Belgian Bishops’ Conference are disconcerted at the news of the bus crash that occurred last night in Sierre (Switzerland), causing the death of 28 people, 22 of whom were children from Heverlee and Lommel. Our thoughts go to the families tragically overcome by bereavement". The bishops conveyed their "Christian sympathy to the families of the victims and assured their prayers and their support", inviting all Belgian Catholics "to join them in their prayers" for the victims of this tragic accident". The Bishops’ Conference also made known that Msgr. Patrick Hoogmartens, bishop of Hasselt, visited the victims’ school in Lommel, while the archbishop of Malines-Bruxelles Msgr. André-Joseph Léonard, and his auxiliary bishop Msgr. Leon Lemmens, brought their support to the school in Heverlee`. The Pope sent a telegram of condolences to the families. A prayer vigil for the victims of the crash open to "all those wishing to convey their sympathy" to the bereaved families was held the night of March 14 in Sint-Pieterskerk’s Cathedral in Leuven. In a telegram the Pope conveyed his condolences to the families.Ireland: Eucharistic Congress delegates meet the Pope On March 14 an Irish delegation led by the Archbishop of Dublin Msgr. Diarmuid Martin, president of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress (Dublin, June 10-17), and by the general secretary Fr Kevin Doran, was received in papal audience by Benedict XVI. They brought with them "Congress Bell", that in recent months was brought in pilgrimage across Irish dioceses as a sign of celebration and invitation to the event. The delegation presented the pope with Irish clovers for the Feast of Saint Patrick, Patron Saint of the Island, celebrated on March 17, along with the first commemorative medal of the Congress. "We are deeply touched said Fr Doran as with this visit to Rome the Bell brought Irish parishes, schools and hospitals into a closer communion with the Pope, as we enter the final phase of preparations for the Eucharistic Congress". The Bell was brought to St Peter’s Square in the morning, and it was left in the Basilica during the afternoon Mass officiated by Msgr. Piero Marini, President of the Pontifical Commission for Eucharistic Congresses. The Delegation and the Congress Bell will be at the Irish Franciscan College of St. Isidore on St. Patrick’s Day while on March 18 they will move to the Pontifical Irish College.
