CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Belarus: new pro-life centre in Vitebsk A new Centre for the protection of life in the family was inaugurated a few days ago in the diocese of Vitebsk, thanks to the cooperation between the Charity Open Heart Foundation, the department for the pastoral care of the family and Caritas regional office. The centre will provide consultancy services for youths, married couples, children and parents in all areas linked to the protection of human life, its dignity, family values, along with delicate issues such as support to families with special needs, fertility, responsible paternity/maternity, the dangers of contraception, post-abortion syndrome, euthanasia. The Center’s project will also involve the pastoral aspects of pro-life and pro-family formation, with the possibility of taking part in prayer meetings and volunteering activity. Poland: university of Torun, meetings on the family The Institute for Jewish Philological Studies set up in 2009 in the Polish city of Torun is the first Athenaeum devoted to Judaism in Europe. In fact, this year from May 16-24 it will hold a series of cultural events dedicated to the family. Organizers aim at “presenting the features and values of Polish, Jewish families, as well as less-known families such as Roma families, those of Sub-Saharan Africa, along with Muslim, Indonesian and Japanese families”, seeking to find the answers to a major question: “How can traditional family values be preserved in the 21st century?” This interreligious initiative carried out for the third time by authorities and students in the Athenaeum will be attended by scholars from various Countries and cultural backgrounds and will be enriched by exhibits and concerts addressed to the public at large. The series of meetings enjoys the patronage of several scientific environments, local authorities, the ecclesiastic realm as well as Polish and European Jewish communities. Spain: missionary animation in dioceses “The missio ad gentes in consecrated life” is the theme of the national Assembly of diocesan directors of the Pontifical Missionary Works and the National Days of diocesan delegates of the missions. The meeting will take place May 20-22. The bishops’ Commission for missions and cooperation among Churches along with the National Direction of the Pontifical Missionary works will jointly organize this initiative for the formation of the coordinators of missionary animation in Spain. Diocesan delegates of the missions and the diocesan directors of the Pontifical Missionary Works and the national Council of Missions, as well as men and women religious who work in missionary formation and animation in dioceses are invited to take part in the meeting that will take place during the Year of Consecrated Life. Most missionaries are religious. For this reason the Days are dedicated to reflections on the relationship and coordination between consecrated persons and their dioceses of origin. Moreover, after their return to their homelands many missionaries are involved in diocesan pastoral care. This requires an attentive coordination between these persons and the responsible of animation and missionary formation in the dioceses. The purpose of the Days is “to reflect on the relationship of the missio ad gentes with the vocation to consecrated life, exchange of experiences between men and women religions who are serving as missionaries and the dioceses of departure and on cooperation and animation in the dioceses, developing guidelines for the preparation and celebration of the World Mission Day 2015”. Slovakia: parish publications contest The community of Catholic journalists of the Slovakian network will hold a competition for parish newspapers and magazines for the year 2015. “All parish publications with an experience of at least three published issues are invited to participate. Registrations are open until June 15 2015”, said the organisers of the contest, underlining that journalistic and graphics skills will be examined by a jury of experts from the realm of Catholic journalism. For Ivan Sulik, former chief editor of a Catholic daily with over 150 years of history, current president of one of the larges Catholic publishing houses in Slovakia, the past editions of the contests have shown that the quality of parish magazines ranges from news bulletins to semi-professional magazines, He added that one of the most important criteria is the way in which “they carry out their fundamental mission of parish communication media”. The results will be made known during the summer Seminar on journalism at the beginning of September, and the creators of the best magazines and parish newspapers will have the opportunity of working with experts in Catholic journalism.
