CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Utrecht (The Netherlands): forum on volunteering and society Half a day dedicated to the role of volunteering in society: it is the proposal of the Dutch diocese of Utrecht for November 1, All Saints’ Day. “Do you agree that more volunteering could change society?” This question is at the centre of the initiative organized by the Kim Foundation, an institution with a Catholic basis that operates on the mandate of the diocese to “identify the needs of vulnerable persons and activate groups of volunteers that may contribute to meeting those needs”, said the Secretary of the Kim Foundation Frans Snijders. “Committing oneself for people in difficulty is rooted in the history of Christians, starting with the principle that each human being is worthwhile. This is also reflected in our desire of a better future for all” Snijders said. The seminar will address the theme of volunteering against the backdrop of Church Social Doctrine with an intervention by Fred van Iersel (Professor of Theology at Tillburg University) and of the Dutch law for social support (WMO). A set of concrete initiatives of the foundation will be examined with a reflection on the project “With and for mourning youths”, an articulated process providing support to children, young people and parents who are suffering for the loss of a dear one who died at a young age”. Czech Republic: Christian counselling centre in Brno A new Christian psychological and pedagogical counselling centre in Brno was blessed by Msgr. Jiri Mikuláek, general vicar of the diocese of Brno, on October 24. Experts in both fields will start working on it on November 3rd, with the intention of offering their counselling services “in the spirit of Christian norms, principles and values”. The counselling centre will cooperate with various educational and ecclesial organizations, as well as with institutions that take care of children, young people and the family. “Psychological services and special pedagogical services provided by the centre will be primarily addressed to children, adolescents, parents, teachers, as well as experts and groups of lay people working in the field of Christian education in Southern Moravia”, said the coordinators of the project. The efforts of experts will focus on themes such as crisis management, social and interpersonal communication problems, analysis of educational and professional perspectives, diagnoses of disorders linked to the educational process. Further information is available on the website: www.kpppb.cz. Slovakia: gender equality, the position of pro-life groups Various pro-life and pro-family organizations have voiced their concern over the content of the “National strategy for gender-equality”, and over its “Action plan” for the five-year period 2014-2019. “These two documents ignore the differences separating the preferences of men and women, that should be respected”, said Patrich Daniska from the Institute for Human Rights and Family Policies. This non-governmental organization underlines that the strategy envisages investing huge amounts of money in a useless theoretical formation in the area of gender equality instead of making concrete efforts to improve the material situation of families with children, to promote women’s rights to raise their children in dignified conditions or help single-parent families. “In this way, the proposal appears as an ideological document lacking concrete solutions to real problems”, said Maria Raucinova from the pro-life Forum, criticizing “the ignorant approach of the government towards this issue and with respect to the proposals and objections of non-governmental organizations representing hundreds of thousands inhabitants of Slovakia”.
