CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Italy: a Memorial Day for missionary martyrs"Martyrdom, a fact of faith": this is the theme of the 21st Day of Prayer and Fasting in commemoration of missionary martyrs that the Italian Church is going to celebrate on 24th March, to coincide with the 33rd anniversary of the murder of monsignor Oscar Romero. The purpose of this Memorial Day is to commemorate those who die because of the Gospel, "to remind us that the testimony is a condition that affects us all and that we are all called to". According to figures provided by Fides agency, 12 pastoral workers were killed in the world in 2012, ten of whom were priests, a nun, a lay woman; however "one must always add to them – Fides points out – the long list of the many people who perhaps will never be heard of or whose names will maybe never known, who in every corner of the Earth suffer and pay for their faith in Christ with their lives". "Those who take the route of Christian faith – states don Gianni Cesena, national director of the Office for Missionary Cooperation between the Churches of the Italian Bishops Conference – cannot disregard that Jesus’ Word, which offers love, sharing and peace, clashes however with the prevailing powers and the prevalent mentality. The early centuries of Christianity were, above all, times of martyrdom for masses of believers whose names are unknown to us". "Commemorating the murdered missionaries, along with the huge number of those who were and are persecuted through to death for their faith – don Cesena points out -, means saying that there is no believing without ‘giving one’s life’, like Jesus did. The Year of Faith repeats to us that faith is authentic only if it is shown on the outside and if it is spent for others, even if there is a price to pay".Switzerland: a Lent dedicated to the South of the worldWith a view to the goals of the next few years, the "Lenten Sacrifice – Action de Carême" (AdC) of Switzerland decided to focus its work on supporting its core mission, i.e. promoting justice and the reduction of poverty in the South of the world from a Christian perspective, by allocating it a larger share of the offerings it receives. This has been announced, in a joint release (posted at www.fastenopfer.ch), by AdC, the Central Catholic Roman Conference of Switzerland (Rkz) and the Swiss Bishops Conference (Ces). The Swiss Catholics’ international cooperation initiatives, in addition to development work in 14 countries across the world, raise funds in the Lenten period to support a number of diocesan pastoral initiatives and other initiatives promoted by the Church in Switzerland and in its linguistic regions. This is done under an agreement between AdC, Ces and Rkz, which is responsible for covering the financial part of the "Swiss" division of the Foundation. Through this new strategy and the ensuing reduction in Acd’s involvement in the funding of the work of the Church in Switzerland for the next few years, this is, according to the foundation, "a further important step forward". A choice that "responds, first and foremost – the release states -, to a problem of credibility: funds must be used according to the profile Acd wants to keep and to the will of most donors".Ireland: prayers in Gaelic in Notre DameIn 1578, six young priests founded the Irish College in Paris; there has been a chapel dedicated to the Irish patron saint, St Patrick, since 1770, but the history of the Irish Church in Paris dates back to over one thousand years ago. As part of the celebrations for the 850th anniversary of Notre Dame Cathedral, an Irish pilgrimage took place on 16th March which ended with the celebration of the Eucharist in the Cathedral: "When prayers were said in Gaelic for the first time on the high altar of Notre Dame Cathedral – the promoters of the initiative comment -, that was a prodigious moment for the small but vibrant Irish community". Pilgrims came from their homeland to join the Irish community in Paris; the Kildare and Leighlin choir conducted by fr Liam Lawton "flooded the aisles with Irish liturgical music". Mass was officiated by bishop Noel Treanor (Down and Connor), and mgr. Brendan Byrne, administrator of Kildare and Leighlin, gave the sermon. During Mass, a special prayer was dedicated to Pope Francis.
