CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Czech republic: national pilgrimage of priestsAbout 600 priests and bishops are expected to participate at the National Pilgrimage of Priests for renewal of faith and sanctification of bishops, priests and deacons, due to take place on 15-17 April in Velehrad. The event, organized in the framework of celebrations of the Jubilee Year of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, will focus on the topic of priestly vocations. Apart from the holy mas, presided over by Mons. Jan Graubner, archbishop of Olomouc, the program will include number of lectures on identity of priest, issues of Christian ethics, academic pastoral care and dialogue with agnostics. On 16 April, participants of the pilgrimage will commemorate the 3rd anniversary of death of the most renowned Czech theologian who lived abroad, cardinal Tomá Spidlík, expert on Eastern Christian spirituality and promoter of Czech culture. Fr. Marko Rupnik, director of "Centro Aletti" in Rome, will deliver a speach on this occasion.Ukraine: session of AUCCRO held in KyivA session of the Secretariat of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (AUCCRO) was held on 4 April in Kyiv. According to the Institute for Religious Freedom, its participants agreed that the Churches and religious organizations have been left outside the law-making process associated with the alterations to the Law of Ukraine "On Freedom of Worship and Religious Organizations". Representatives of the denominations expressed their concern over the fact that despite the instruction of Ukraine’s president Viktor Yanukovych, the final wording of the bill which was to eliminate the defects of Bill 10221 signed by the president has not been revealed to the members of AUCCRO so far. They complain about "lack of systematic dialogue and transparent cooperation with the religious community in the law-making area from the side of the Government". Therefore, the participants of the session decided to address the highest representatives of the state in this regard, setting out the position of AUCCRO. Slovakia: summer school of biblical languagesA chance to improve the knowledge of the Holy Scripture in an exceptional way is offered to the participants of the Summer school of biblical languages 2013, organized by the Faculty of Theology of Catholic University in Ruzomberok, Slovakia. Two intense monthly courses of Hebrew, biblical Greek and Syriac language will take part in august-september in Kosice. "Knowledge of biblical languages opens the door to serious study and knowledge of the Bible, history and culture of the Middle East, and helps to intensify the dialog with other Christian churches and Jewish community", explains Robert Lapko, prorector of Catholic University, adding that the course of Hebrew will be held on the base of narrative and poetic texts of the Bible, and will require basic knowledge of the language. Greek and Syriac language is suitable also for the beginners. Lectures will be given by experts on biblical languages from Slovakia who graduated at Italian, German and American universities.
