CHURCHES IN BRIEF
CCEE bishops: a debate at the Council of Europe The Council of Europe will be at the centre of the 42nd meeting of general secretaries of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe, due to take place in Strasbourg, France, June 19-22. The archbishop of Strasbourg Msgr. Jean-Pierre Grallet delivered the opening speech of the meeting organized by CCEE, followed by a keynote address on the Council of Europe and the challenges the Church is called to face by Msgr. Ignazio Ceffalia, from the Permanent Mission of the Holy See at the Council of Europe. On June 20 the Council of Europe seat will be the venue of the meeting. Participants will meet Gabriella Battaini Dragoni, Deputy Secretary General Council of Europe; Maltese judge Vincent Se Gaetano, who will speak on the activities of the European Court of Human Rights; the meeting will close with a dialogue with the General Secretary of the Venice Commission Thomas Market. Germany: debate on Church-State Relations “Church and the State in Nord Reno-Westfalia, Perspectives and Views”: it is the title of a symposium held on June 16 at the Landtag (Lander Parliament) in Düsseldorf. The Symposium was organized by the diocese of Aachen, the diocese of Essen, the archdiocese of Cologne, by the national Church of Lippe (one of the 20 evangelical churches that form part of the German Evangelical Church), the diocese of Münster, the archdiocese of Paderborn, the Evangelical Church of Rheinland and of Westfalia. The situation of Confessional schools, the relationship between social themes of the Magisterium and of the job environment, the development of day centres for ecclesial assistance, Church-State tax collection and subsidies to ecclesial institutions were the themes addressed during the meeting. Among participants figured representatives of the organizing ecclesiastic bodies, members of the Catholic – Caritas – and evangelical – Diakonia- charities, delegates of professional federations, along with MPs, members of the Land government, State Department officers and members of secular, public associations, who were invited for in-depth debates. Church-State relations in Germany are in full expansion: talks are ongoing for the implementation of a perfectly balanced legal and social structure regulating Church-State relations. Prime Minister Hannelore Kraft underlined that “State institutions are being pressured by increasing requests demanding a clear State-Religion separation”. The bishop of Essen, Mons. Franz-Josef Overbeck, pointed out that religion is not a private theme: “The Gospel of resurrection prompts us to create equal structures for all, regardless of whether they are Christian, Muslim, or gnostics”. From this perspective the bishop expressed his gratitude for the State-Church relationship in Germany, experimented for decades, envisaging a “well-balanced separation” along with a fruitful partnership. Spain: religious support in centres for migrants A few days ago the president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference (CEE), Monsignor Ricardo Blázquez Pérez, and Minister of Interior Jorge Fernández Díaz, signed a cooperation agreement to ensure Catholic religious assistance in alien internment centres (CIE). With the agreement the State ensures to right to religious freedom of people detained in CIE. The agreement stipulates that religious assistance include the Mass and Sunday Celebration, religious festivities and other festivities sanctioned by the national authorities; visits to interned alien citizens, reception in CIE premises by the person in charge of pastoral care and attention to those who have specific questions or doubts; education and religious formation and if necessary consultancy in religious and moral questions; the celebration of acts of worship and administration of sacraments. Pastoral care will be provided by priests and by other religious dignitaries with pastoral experience with migrants. Portugal: 2016 Synod, mission to reach out to all The Patriarch of Lisbon presented the pastoral way towards the diocesan Synod of 2016, which in line with the apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium”, intends to become a “missionary dream to reach out to all”. “Pope Francis asks us to do our utmost in all dioceses, so that in a shared and co-responsible way we may put into practice the content of his message”, said Msgr. Manuel Clemente. From September until 2016, at the beginning of each semester will be published a guide that will serve for all communities to reflect on the Pope’s exhortation, and “draw practical implications for a constant missionary action”. The Handbook distributed on Sunday June 15 on the occasion of the presentation of the project, contains the guidelines of the pastoral action of the next two years, that will culminate in the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of the Patriarchal qualification of Lisbon, conferred for “missionary merits”.
