Portugal, Germany, Austria

Portugal: transmission of the Catholic message In an interview released by the news agency Ecclesia, Msgr. António Couto, president of the Bishops’ Commission for Mission and for New Evangelization, addressed the problems linked to the transmission of the faith, underlining the importance of Jesus’ original message. "It isn’t the fault of those who refuse to listen. It’s our own responsibility, when we proclaim the Good News we add our reflections, placed within contemporary situations". For the bishop of Lamego, "the Gospel of Jesus, in its wording and content constitutes the most revolutionary methodology ever. Nothing new should be added to it, neither in terms of transmission procedures, nor in terms of expression". The president of the Bishops’ Commission mentioned the themes on the agenda of the 13th ordinary Assembly, held in the Vatican October 7-28 on the theme "The new evangelization for the transmission of Christian Faith". The president of the Bishops’ Conference added that "the new adjective should not confound Catholics": the ‘new evangelization’ is mainly addressed to the de-Christianized, aseptic, indifferent, anaesthetized areas of the Western world". Msgr. Couto, who will take part in the Synod with the bishop of Oporto, Msgr. Manuel Clemente, revealed that the Portuguese contribution should be based on three main ideas: "Living in the Church means to live in the Synod, in the common path, in home, gathered together; the Church is a Church of proclamation, that proclaims the Christian message, and those who transmit it do not refer their own opinion but the words of Jesus. The Church is a Church of faithfulness, not of novelty".Germany: working for "Christian unity" A great challenge: this is how mgr. Gerhard Feige, bishop of Magdeburg, commented on his appointment to president of the Commission for Ecumenism of the German Bishops Conference (Dbk). Mgr. Feige, interviewed by the Catholic news agency Kna, said that "ecumenism is not a secondary thing and cannot be something alien to us. The unity of Christians is a task Jesus entrusted us with". "This applies to East Germany even more, as the number of agnostics reaches 80%, over there. Nazism and the communist regime have made Christians get closer to each other. Now, the Gospel has to be spread together in a mostly agnostic society", said mgr. Feige. As to the unity of Christians, the bishop stated that "ecumenism must be advanced at all levels: from the base, from the highest ranks of the Church and in the theological arena", but "it is a time-consuming process". In addition, a new emergency has come out of the evolution of society: "In East Germany", he explained, "we are more and more often faced with marriages between Catholics and agnostics, or between Protestants and agnostics. This does not diminish our attention to mixed marriages, but it shows how much situations are changing". So we have to "face these families’ problems more".Austria: solidarity and responsibility in EuropeStrengthening Europe against nationalist trends and national selfishness: this is the call made by the Austrian Catholic Action, published on 2 October at the end of its plenary assembly in Innsbruck. In the run-up to the enforcement of the European stability pact and the aspiration to overcome Europe’s crises, "the discussion about the present and future of Europe needs to fully renewed, in politics, in society and in the Churches", the document states. This involves "a dramatic change in the way one gets information about and discusses Europe, as well as a renewal of democratic education, the debates and the perception of democratic responsibility". The Catholic Action supported the European peace and unity processes and rejected "the current tendency to confine Europe to economic and tax issues and to reduce political practice to nationalist positions"; in addition, it called for "mutual support and responsibility in Europe and in its States", pointing out that the uniting foundations of the process are reflected by the Catholic social doctrine. The integration process has also been influenced "by Christians, driven by an open, supportive spirit, keen on overcoming limits and on acknowledging others".