CHUCHES IN BRIEF
Poland: IV Congress of Christian Culture”In search of a man in a man. The Christian roots of hope": this is the topic of the IV Congress of Christian Culture, due to take place at the Catholic University of Lublin, Poland, from September 27 to 30th. The purpose of the meeting is to promote dialogue between the Church and contemporary culture, as well as dialogue between religions. Card. Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, will be awarded an honorary degree by the University. The meeting officially opened by archbishop Celestino Migliore with a conference about "John Paul II’s contribution to the understanding of the mission of the Church in European and worldwide politics”. On the following days, guests speakers will include: the sociologist and philosopher Zygmunt Bauman, the apostolic nuncio to Poland, George Weigel, the sociologist don Janusz Marianski, and the head of the Faculty of Theology of Innsbruck, don Jozef Niewiadomski. An event called "Debate for two pulpits" will take place on Saturday night: it will be focussed on "Faith and disbelief in Poles’ life” and, as usual, it will be hosted by the Church of the Dominican Fathers in Lublin old town. At the same time as the Congress lectures, some debates will be held about topical issues, such as dialogue between faith and science, charity, feminism, the Christian spirit of European culture.Slovakia: renewed Episcopal Conference Bishops’ Conference of Slovakia has officially launched a new version of its website www.kbs.sk. It contains more than one thousand actual documents concerning the life of the Catholic Church in Slovakia and abroad, as well as hundreds of papal documents. "After seven years since its first launch it was necessary to move forward in regard to the form and content of the website", explained the director of the Press Office of the Bishops’ Conference, Jozef Kovácik, adding that apart from text files, visitors will be able to see also a photo and video section. Versions for iPhone and iPad will also be available in a short time. Administrators are currently working on the update of directories regarding Church institutions and organizations, religious orders, educational institutions and mass media. The history and current hierarchy of the Bishops’ Conference is also available in Italian, German and English, together with material on the forthcoming Year of Faith and the Jubilee Year of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, due to be celebrated in 2013. The website attracts an average of 50-60 thousand unique visitors per month. Ukraine: criticism to the law modifying the penal code The Rector’s Office and Senate of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv expressed their concern about the fact that on 18 September the Supreme Council of Ukraine passed in the first reading the bill on amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine envisaging large fines or imprisonment for the so-called "deliberate spread of untrue information defaming the honour and dignity of other persons or undermining their business reputation". According to the Religious Information Service of Ukraine, the community of UCU addressed the Ukrainian deputies who are to vote for the bill again, with an appeal to "think twice before committing the crime" which "will give an impetus to sliding of Ukraine back to the past and deprive Ukrainians of hope for a successful future". The representatives of UCU stress that there is no need to criminalize the responsibility for slander as it is already stated in the effective norm on the civil and legal responsibility for disinformation. Romania: the fruits of the Council A personal and communal reading of God’s Word; widespread initiatives to train lay people about the social doctrine of the Church. These are two of the "fruits of the Council" in the Latin Catholic and Greek Catholic Churches of Romania. Mgr. Aurel Percã, auxiliary bishop of Iasi, tells SIR Europe about it, in the light of the assembly of the Romanian bishops that is taking place this week, the forthcoming opening of the Pastoral Year in his diocese (1st October), and the next dates of the Universal Church, with a special focus on the 50th anniversary of the Council, the Year of Faith and the Synod on the new evangelisation. "Our bishop sent a letter to the diocese, dealing precisely with the issues covered by the Year of Faith. The 11 Catholic dioceses of Romania, 6 of the Roman rite and 5 of the Greek rite, and lots of parishes will host events, celebrations and preparatory initiatives. The anniversary of the Council too is questioning our communities". Mgr. Aurel Percã tackles – in connection with the Council’s ecumenism issue – the question of cohabitation with the Orthodox Church (a wide majority in the country, since Catholics account for about 6-7% of the population). "On a positive note, we see great liveliness in priestly calls, and many European churches ask us for priests for their dioceses". Then, the prelate mentions "the difficult economic situation experienced by Romania, with heavy impacts on the families, and its political problems, as well as widespread migration" westwards. Then, he looks confidently ahead: "We are working to bring the Christian message into society, as the Second Vatican Council taught us".
