Slovenia, Portugal, Germany

Slovenia: end of the IV Social WeekThe IV Social Week in Slovenia on the theme "Who gives? Who receives?" has come to an end on 22 September with a seminar in Celje. The programme of the event, jointly sponsored by 42 partners under the coordination of Socialna Akademija, included 37 initiatives: lectures, debates and round tables held across the country which were attended by over 1,000 people with the contribution of 21 bloggers. According to organisers, this year’s edition "took another step forward thanks to the presence on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter e YouTube". The first round table entitled "Is Slovenia ruled by responsible people?" raised the question of a management crisis in the country. Other issues discussed during the Week, which was held in the context of the European Year of Active Aging and Intergenerational Solidarity, included family relationships and intergenerational co-operation; political parties; Churches and business; sustainable development; the role of young people; and volunteering. The focus of the conclusive seminar "We will all give, we will all receive!" (21-22 September), organised by Dom Svetega Jozefa, was on "how to include representatives of different generations in volunteering organisations and social processes". All speakers placed emphasis on "personal responsibility for good relationships and the quality of collective and individual life" as well as on the need "not to underestimate the role of the state and civil society".Portugal: Social Communications Day The Portuguese Catholic Church hopes that the national Social Communication Days (October 27-28, Fatima) will help "denounce and counter media constraints". The president of the Episcopal commission for culture, cultural heritage, and social communication Msgr. Pio Alves, denounced "the pressure exerted by administrations on media officers in order to counter the drop in audience ratings and sales". "Those media channels that tend to transform journalists into mere hunters of sensational news, are calling into question their very identity and quality". The auxiliary bishop of Oporto said: "Headlines and newscasts often aren’t grounded by facts". According to the bishops, the duty to inform the public opinion with rigour and reliability is unattended, owing "to a lack of time in reporting a news item. But hurry and rapidity cannot act as the enemies of objectiveness and news accuracy". This was the framework, thus the theme chosen for the 2012 National Days, "Silences and silencing", is motivated by the "need for more pondered and reflected information, less prone to social, economic, political, and ideological conditioning". As regards religious media, Msgr. Alves said he hopes there will be less waste of efforts and means, within and among dioceses. "Our joint commitment must increase, so that the product complies with quality targets". All the conferences and the debates of the Days can be followed by logging on www.ecclesia.pt/jornadas2012/.Germany: specifications for those "leaving" the Church For the German Bishops’ Conference the decision to "leave the Church" is a serious "infringement that goes against the ecclesial community". In a press release published on their website on September 20 the German prelates announced the adoption of a general decree, approved by the Congregation for the bishops, due to come into force on September 24. In Germany, as in some Swiss Cantons in Austria, the Church is funded by ecclesiastic taxes, and this possibility has always been offered to believers in order to comply with "the constitutional principle of religious freedom". So that "nobody may be considered as a member of the Church against his own will". The question is of financial and pastoral nature – with 4.9 billion budget the German Church is among the richest in Europe, and it amply finances the universal Church – since those Catholics who should decide to leave the Church would cease paying these taxes. "Which status should be granted to baptized faithful who decide to leave the Church?", the bishops asked. This decision is not without "juridical consequences", since these people, the prelates underline, "infringe their canonical duty to defend the Church (canon 209)" and "bring their financial contribution (canon 222). The Catholics that "leave the Church", the bishops say, will no longer be able to receive penitential sacraments, the eucharist, and confirmation and neither the anointment of the sick, "except for those cases when their life is in danger". Before criticisms, the Bishops’ Conference justifies these measures with the fact that in its eyes "there cannot be a ‘partial’ departure from the Church". The "spiritual community" cannot be separated from the "institutional Church". Leaving only the latter isn’t possible. To the decree is annexed a Pastoral Letter containing a formulary informing anyone intending to leave the Church on the consequences of their actions.