CHURCHES IN BRIEF" "
Spain: a campaign for missionaries The campaign “#YoSoyDomund” is ongoing in Spain, promoted on the occasion of the World Day of Missions, celebrated this year on Sunday October 20. The Day, which in Spain has been renamed “Domund” (DOmingo MUNDial de las Misiones), this year will focus on “Faith+Charity= Mission”. Every day, until October 20, people from all wakes of society post the reasons why they support missionaries on the website of the Pontifical Missionary works Domund (www.domund.org), and on social networks, with the hashtag #YoSoyDomund. The experiences are shared by people of all ages, children and old people alike, fathers, workers, bishops, religious… etc. The campaign enjoys, inter alia, the cooperation of personalities such as José Luis Requero, magistrate of the National Court; psychiatrist Enrique Rojas; ex minister José Manuel Otero Novas; Benigno Blanco, president of the Spanish Forum for the family, Alfonso Ussia, writer and editorialist. But there are also simple people like Maria Luisa Codino, who offers the suffering caused by her passion for the missions. Anastasio Gil, national director of OMP, underlined the “laudable” response to the campaign by the volunteers and the media. Thanks to the donations received for the “Domund”, it is possible to bring aid to Countries such as South Sudan, Madagascar or Indonesia. Poland: Christians and the challenge of social media “If the Church is not present within social media it will cease to exist”, remarked the members of the Council for Communication of the Polish Bishops’ Conference gathered October 10 to discuss the missionary challenge offered by the possibility of sharing content interactively on the web. The spokesperson of the episcopate, Father Jozef Kloch, presented the results of his survey conducted on almost 3 thousand Internet users, religious and lay people alike. “The Church in Poland is not very present on the social media”, he said, and underlined the need to provide training courses to presbyters who are unable to use modern means of communication. The prelate also suggested he will dedicate a pastoral letter to such issues. Portugal: cut to pensions, the bishops’ concernThe permanent Council of the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference (CEP) conveyed in Fatima its “concern” for the announcement of cuts to small pensions, asking the government to provide citizens with information on the measure policymakers intend to adopt. The minister for solidarity, employment and social security confirmed the cuts of small pensions to those who benefit from other forms of social security in 2014, without however clarifying the amounts and when the measure will be in force. “The bishops view the possibility of cuts to small pensions and social benefits with grave concern. We hope the government will inform citizens of its concrete intentions”, said father Manuel Morujão. The CEP spokesperson added: “all public leaders should provide clear and transparent guidance, so as to always prompt ceaseless solidarity”. In particular, the prelate referred to the “preoccupation” regarding the measure on the part of Catholic inspired social bodies dedicated to helping the elderly, and underlined the possible “consequences on the daily lives of families, where the grandparents and parents are helping younger family members in the current economic downturn”. Ukraine: VI Ecumenical Social WeekThe Sixth Ecumenical Social Week (ESW) on “Differences and Respect” was held during the first week of October in Lviv, Ukraine. According to its coordinator Maria Kandyba, the aim of the event was to “bring together representatives from various sectors of the society to discuss and find solutions to pressing issues of our time”. As she adds, the main topic was not chosen by chance: “During the last Ecumenical Social Week we proposed to continue the interfaith dialogue on social development to overcome stereotypes and build a strong civil society”. Special attention was drawn to the matters regarding communication between the representatives of Churches and the government, explains deputy mayor for Humanitarian Affairs, Vasyl Kosiv. As he adds, “in Ukraine there are lots of prejudices against religions and its status in the society. Therefore, a subject that concerns the differences and mutual respect in this regard is very important”. According to professor of sociology and social work at the Lviv Polytechnic University, Nina Hayduk, the ESW always focuses on the element of values – Christian, human and democratic – in the area of interfaith dialogue, socio-economic development and international cooperation “We have learned to notice differences, but we do not always have respect”, noted Oleksandr Maksymchuk, president of the Association of Philantropists of Ukraine, expressing hope that the Ecumenical Social Week could fill in this gap in general terms also in the future.
