CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Czech republic: jubilee of Olomouc archdioceseThe archdiocese of Olomouc in Czech republic celebrates an important anniversary this year – 950 years since its reestablishment. On this occasion, the Pressfil company in Pilsen has issued a postal card with the picture of original windows of the Zdík Palace (former Premysl Palace) at St. Wenceslaus Square in Olomouc, built in the 12th century. "The postal card with the theme of reestablishment of the Olomouc archdiocese contains a stamp with nominal value 10.00 CZK and it has been issued in a limited collector’s edition of 1000 pieces with price of 50.00 CZK/pc", explains Jirí Neumann, director of the NewsPhila company, informing about the news on the field of philately, postal services and history. The card has been distributed since 31 January. It’s worth mentioning that the first Moravian bishop in 880-885 was St. Methodius. Later, the region was subject to the bishopric in Regensburg and Prague until 1063.Slovakia: St. Martin’s collection for visually handicapped childrenTechnical equipment for schools for blind and visually handicapped children in Bratislava and Levoca will be bought from the money collected during the last year’s St. Martin’s collection in the archdiocese of Bratislava, Slovakia. The faithful have contributed with 84,000 Euro and symbolical checks were handed over to the directors of both special schools by Mons. Jozef Halko, auxiliary bishop of Bratislava. "We are living the Year of Faith and awakening to faith is often symbolized by recovering of eyes functioning in various biblical stories. Jesus cured those who were blind, giving them faith at the same time, enabling them to see physically as well as by heart", explains Mons. Halko the decision to help visually handicaped children. According to Jozef Simko, director of the special basic school in Bratislava, currently educating about 100 pupils, promised to invest the money in "care for children", with aim to buy equipment for a new computer laboratory. The school in Levoca offers education to about 130 children aged 3-18, as well as the services of the Center for special pedagogical consulting. According to its director Sarlota Múdra, the money from St. Martin’s collection will be used for a purchase of technical equipment like special TV magnifiers and typewriters.Ukraine: summit on protection of orphansOn 6-7 February, an inter-denominational Eastern European summit "Protect the orphan and change the future" was held in Kyiv. The event was organized by the Alliance "Ukraine without orphans" and the Committee for Social Ministry of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations. The participants of the event focused on the unification of efforts of the Churches with aim to reach the most effective response to the challenges associated with social and spiritual orphanhood. Another scope was to discuss possibilities of a "dialogue with the state, in order to popularize the culture of adoption and the juvenile justice". On the first day of the summit, the heads and representatives of the Ukrainian Churches shared their opinions regarding the care for orphans and the role of the Church in the transformation of the society, with aim to develop more respect towards disabled children, considering it to be "an indicator of humanity".
