England, France

England: no to "Soho Masses"On 2 January, the Catholic archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, announced in a release that, after six years, the masses celebrated for gay people in the central London’s neighbourhood of Soho, and precisely in the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in Warwick Street, will be closed. The church – as written in a long release published by the diocese of Westminster and relayed by the "Catholic Herald" – will be given to the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, established by Benedict XVI to receive into the Catholic Church the Anglican devotees who applied for it. The so-called "Soho Masses" in the church in Warwick Street had ben established by the diocese nearly six years ago to respond to the "difficulties and seclusion" experienced by gay people and their families and friends. "Over these years – mgr. Nichols writes in his release -, the situation of gay people has changed, both socially and legally" and, "at this point, after six years of pastoral care, the time has come to start a new era". In this respect, the archbishop mentions that the purpose of the Soho Masses was to help gay people "enter more fully into the life of the Church, especially in the existing parish facilities". Mgr. Nichols explains that "pastoral care" is one thing, as it is always provided to devotees in any case, while the "regular celebration of Mass" is quite another thing, as its "universal" character must be always and clearly expressed as the "highest prayer of the whole Church". That’s why the archbishop asks that the team in charge of celebrating the Soho masses two Sundays a week should now focus their efforts on providing "pastoral care" to gay people. Which care, however – the release states -, shall not include "the organisation of regular Masses". Now, all this will be managed by the Jesuit fathers of the parish church of the Immaculate Conception in Farm Street. At the end of his release, the archbishop of Westminster announces that the Catholic church of Warwick Street will be run by the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham for this year’s Lent.France: Taizé, the "joy" of Strasbourg’s churches"Strasbourg is the city of reconciliation between peoples and of the European building process. For a long time, we have been experiencing effective ecumenism here. We grant our warmest welcome". It is the archbishop of Strasbourg, mgr. Jean-Pierre Grallet, and the president of the Union of Protestant Churches of Alsace (Uepal), Jean-François Collange, who express "joy" on behalf of the Christian churches of the region for the announcement made in Rome a few days ago that the next stop in the Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth will take place in Strasbourg in 2013. So, the Taizé meetings will make a comeback to France after as many as 10 years, and precisely since 2002 when young Europeans met in Paris. There were 80 thousand of them. "Strasbourg – the Catholic bishop, mgr. Grallet, says to the newspaper ‘La Croix’ – is a city that welcomes European meetings: because of its current European scope, because of its history of reconciliation after the wars, and because of the ecumenical dimension of Alsace". The diocese is already busy getting ready for the event, with the support of the German diocese of Freiburg. The impressive logistic and reception work has been entrusted to the director of the youth pastoral service, father Thomas Wender. "We want to help young European Christians – bishop Grallet concludes – tell about their hope".