Spain, Poland, Portugal

Spain, Religious film festivalThe 10th Religious Film Festival will take place in Barcelona November 8 to 17, in the framework of the “MultiArt” cultural and Christian fair aimed at deepening existential themes, with a special focus on transcendence and Christian understanding through video productions. “Infinite dimensions” is the common thread of the ten movies. Film analysis from a philosophical and theological perspective, said the organizers of the Festival, “is a privileged pathway contributing to the formation of critical audiences, capable of highlighting human conscience”. The purpose of the exhibition is to provide a global understanding of the human person and of life. “In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of our personal history and that of others – said the promoters of the event – it is necessary to analyze various perspectives, and even by doing so not all realities will be addressed, as there are various dimensions. A fundamental aspect of this global perspective is the spiritual approach, which enables us to perceive, touch and experience God in His endless dimensions through our and other people’s experience”. Funds for a school in Brassaville from Poland The offerings of faithful in the diocese of Tarnow in the South-East area of Poland have enabled 300 children of Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, to go to school. Some 23 thousand euros needed to complete the construction of the school building were collected by “small missionaries”, the “cantors of the star”, in 2012. The school was built with the contribution of offerings of parishioners and Congolese sponsors. Elementary pupils study with older peers and together they follow Catechesis courses leading to the sacraments. The school, that a few days ago received a special blessing by the Apostolic nuncio of Congo and Gabon, Monsignor Jan Romeo Pawlowski, is located in the parish of Resurrected Christ, led for the past twenty years by a Polish missionary from Tarnow, Fr Bogdan Piotrowski. He said: “The ground floor was built three years ago with public funding but the works were interrupted for financial difficulties”, the prelate thus decided to ask his diocese of origin for support. “The sum collected in Tarnow helped complete five classrooms on the first floor”, made known the missionary office of the Curia. Portugal: “the Church begins inside the household” The Portuguese Church considers the survey sent by Pope Francis to all dioceses on the theme “The pastoral challenges of the family in the field of evangelization” a “timely initiative” as it addresses “problems which families must be the first to confront”, said Msgr. Manuel Clemente, president of the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference, who in an interview added that issuing opinions on “same gender unions”, on “Children’s education in the framework of irregular marriage situations”, on “Marriage according to natural law” or on “the Pastoral for difficult marriage situations”, “require the participation of those directly involved in these issues”. The dioceses’ deadline to hand in the filled-out questionnaires to the Secretariat General of the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference is January 2014, so as to ensure that the national contribution is submitted to the Vatican by the end of the month, in the light of the general debate due to take place during the third extraordinary meeting of the Bishops’ Synod, scheduled from October 15 to 19 2013. The families must be “the first expression of thought” as they are the ones living the needs in an immediate and direct way, so that “having listened to the families’ opinions, the Church, as a whole, may express herself and envisage the best solutions to what can be best described as a cultural problem”, said the Patriarch of Lisbon. “Church begins in the household, in the members of the family: here we find the first accomplishment of Christian life”.