CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Portugal: the youth and the "time" of the Lord On Palm Sunday the Patriarch of Lisbon, Msgr. José Policarpo, concluded the cycle of six Lenten catechesis with a message to the youth: "the Lord needs time in the life of each one of us. But He waits. He knows the right moments". During the Mass officiated in the cathedral to celebrate the World Youth Day His Eminence said that "God is promised to everyone" although "many are not yet capable of longing for Him". Cardinal Policarpo invited the faithful present to revive their willingness to enter in a relationship with the Lord: "We all yearn for a profound encounter with Him, may He be our force and our light, true and sincere love; an ever-encouraging life project. If someone doesn’t perceive this zeal, then God hasn’t yet touched His heart". The Program of the World Youth Day of the Patriarchate of Lisbon opened in the early afternoon of Sunday April 1st in the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with the meeting "The faith of science and the reasons of faith", directed by Henrique Leitão from the University of Lisbon. Some one thousand youth taking part in the initiative, convened in the heart of the capital and gathered in the Church of Saint Dominique, where Cristina Costa and a group of volunteers from the D. Estefânia hospital shared their experiences on "Happiness in suffering". As scheduled, the Portuguese World Youth Day closed with a feast on the parvis of the Church, livened by the concert by the Christian orchestra of the Patriarchate: "Projeto Rumos".Austria: support to orphans in Iraq Supporting orphan children in Iraq is the initiative promoted by the diocese of Feldkirch, that collected for this cause approximately 15 thousand euro, handed in at the end of March to the Iraqi abbot of Catholic Chaldean rite Gabriel, during his visit to Austria. It was reported by the Catholic news agency Kathpress, which referred that most of the sum derives from a fund collection held past November on the occasion of the beatification of Carl Lampert, the priest who died as a martyr of Nazism in 1944. The diocese decided to devolve the funds to Iraqi children, thus bringing contemporary effectiveness "to Blessed Carl Lampert’s motto ‘may people return to be people’" states a communiqué by the Archdiocese reported by Kathpress. 15 thousand euro will serve to restructure the elementary school of the abbey and a new orphanage will be built. Since 2009 the abbey hosts Christian refugees from Mosul and Baghdad, now amounting to more than 240, along with 20 orphan children hosted in the structure and registered in the same school, which now counts 150 pupils. Slovakia: Christians’ mission in hospitals National meeting of hospital chaplains took place in Badin on 29 March, upon invitation of president of the Council for Health Pastoral Care of the Bishops’ conference of Slovakia, Mons. Stefan Secka. "We had three aims to meet and share experiences, to prepare and discuss topics for our autumn meeting and to set out the program of the seventh edition of the conference about mission of contemporary Christians in hospitals and health care institutions, planned for 14 April in Martin", explained the bishop. According to one of the organizers, Maria Kocisova, the event will focus on relation between medicine and emotions, with aim to "connect medical professionality with teaching of the Church". Lectures will include topics like faith and its influence on control of emotions in the area of health care; nurses as mediators of expressions between patients and doctors; comparison of emotions in health and in illness.Ukraine: Sviatoslav Shevchuk to the youth"Do not be ashamed to cast off the chains of your doubts! Place them like clothes at the feet of the Saviour, thereby paving for him the way to yourselves". With these words the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, turned to young people of Ukraine in his message on the occasion of the Day of Youth due to be celebrated on 8 April. According to the hierarch, clothes are of considerable importance for modern young people: "It is a way to express themselves… In reality, the accent on clothes is often an indication of a deep aspiration of young people to be noticed for their uniqueness, originality and beauty". His Beatitude Sviatoslav pointed to the symbol of the change of clothes, meaning an internal change of the person, and exhorted young people to take off their "old clothes" and pave the way for the Lord, as "only Christ can grant the fullness of life, freedom from the passing things and internal beauty and purity".
