CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Russia: fund-collection for the meeting of young Catholics Fund-collection throughout Catholic parishes in Russia during the celebrations of Palm Sunday to finance the meeting of Catholic youths scheduled to take place in Novosibirsk next August 6 to 9. It is the appeal of Msgr. Klemens Pikkel, bishop of the southern diocese of Saratov, president of the Russian bishops’ Commission for Youth Ministry. For the meeting in Novosibirsk “participants are expected to arrive from all over the Country, from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok”. For the first time the gathering will be attended also by 45 representatives of Catholic youths from Kazakhstan, said bishop Pikkel. The meeting is “of great importance in the Christian formation of our youths”, and it is also a step towards the World Youth Day in Poland in 2016. There will be time to “pray together, hold intense debates on various themes, repent and adore the Lord, live joy”. The invitation to give “generous donations” is linked to high costs of “board and lodging”, especially in the city of Novosibirsk”, and also because “at least in part, but in the future even more so, we fund our projects ourselves”. Spain: figures on the teaching of religion in schools The Annual Report on Christian religious education in schools, carried out by the Episcopal Commission for education and catechesis of the Bishops’ Conference was presented a few days ago. According to the figures released, 63.5% of pupils attend religion classes. Out of 5.5 million registered students over 3.5 million receive Catholic education. The bishops of the Commission, however, expressed regret for the effects of the new regulation enshrined in the Organic Law on the Improvement of the Quality of Education (LOMCE), which over a year ago stipulated that religious education in high-schools was no longer mandatory, and therefore this option is not always available for pupils or parents requiring it. At present, only 41.2% of high-school students attend religion classes. “In this important stage of formation – states the message – parents’ right to choose religious and moral education for their children is not appropriately guaranteed. This is a breach in the constitutional mandate and in the agreement between the Spanish State and the Holy See signed on January 3 1979″. The Report of the Bishops’ Commission reiterates that the teaching of religion in schools is part of parents’ rights to educate their children according to their religious beliefs”. Czech Republic: novelties in the Saint Joseph Community St. Joseph’s Community in Dolany, that deals with the social reintegration of people with a difficult past, under the guidance of Caritas Czech Republic, has a new chapel. It was officially inaugurated by Msgr. Jan Graubner, Archbishop of Olomouc, on March 18. “I have brought a great joy from the St. Joseph Community. I am glad that people who experienced a sad event in their lives will not be left alone, and that through Caritas the manage to recover their human dignity, a community to share their feelings and ideas, and a space for their personal development, including the spiritual aspect”, said Msgr. Graubner. The community, founded in 2013, aims at helping r men and women who went though painful experiences in their lives, providing lodging as well as additional support. “Ours is not a halfway house. We intend to create a safe, solid environment based on Christian values to the of benefit all those who have lost them for serious reasons and intend to recover them”, said Father Petr Prinz, from Caritas Olomouc. France: a film on the reception of the homeless in Marseilles The film-documentary “300 Men”, on the life of 300 homeless sheltered every evening in Forbin, the reception and social rehabilitation centre run by the Saint John of God Foundation in Marseilles, was released in French cinemas on March 25. The documentary filmed by two young directors, Aline Dalbis and Emmanuel Gras, that in the winters of 2011 and 2012 spent several months at the centre, manages to show “with appropriate objectivity” and “with a mixture of prudishness and voyeurism, denunciation and compassion”, the confusion of this emergency shelter where each winter evening since the end of the 19th century the confreres of the religious congregation welcome the homeless. “Without comments, questions; without judging the aggressiveness of some of the guests or the rigidity of certain internal rules, the film shows the centre from its opening hours in the afternoon until the next day, when the homeless leave and go back on the streets where they came from”.
