CHURCHES IN BRIEF
COMECE: European bishops reflect on climate and Cop21 The bishop of COMECE ( Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Conferences of the European Community) will gather in extraordinary plenary Assembly in Parish on October 28-29 in the seat of the French Bishops’ Conference in Paris. Ahead of the UN conference on Climate Change (Cop21), the bishops will send a message in which they will voice their concerns on climate change. During the plenary meeting, held behind closed doors, the bishops will be informed on the state of the negotiations before the UN Conference by a high officer of the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The bishops will discuss ethical, social and economic aspects and implications of climate change with Elena Lasida, professor at the Faculty of social and economic sciences at the Catholic Institute in Paris, member of the Family and Society Department of the French Bishops’ Conference. Finally, they will analyse a draft Report drawn up by a dedicated group of experts set up by COMECE on climate change and sustainable development. The Report will be published in Brussels in the month of November. Spain: new ecclesiastic atheneum in Barcelona In October was canonically established the new ecclesiastic university Sant Pacià in Barcelona (Spain). The prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, was present at the inauguration of the academic year and signed the decrees stipulating the erection of said atheneum. The university compound brings together three ecclesiastic faculties present in the city of Barcelona. These are: the Facultad de Teología de Cataluña (Theology Faculty of Catalonia, 1968) the Facultad Eclesiástica de Filosofía de Cataluña (Ecclesiastic Faculty of Philosophy of Catalonia, 1988) and the Facultad de Historia de la Iglesia, Arqueología y Artes Cristianas Antoni Gaudí (Faculty of the history of the Church, Christian archaeology and art Antoni Gaudí, 2014). The grand chancellor of the ecclesiastic atheneum Sant Pacià is the archbishop of Barcelona Cardinal Lluís Martínez Sistach, who wanted the new academic institution to be called “Sant Pacià” in honour of the bishop of Barcelona of the second half of the 4th century, a Father of the Latina Church, author of numerous theological essays. The new university is dedicated esclusively to ecclesiastic studies. Slovakia: Social activities fair in four cities “We feel the need to speak of poverty and of how it can be uprooted in a constructive, concrete way. For this purpose in 2006 we launched the project ‘Social activities Fair’ to attract the attention of the general public and of the competent authorities on this problem and on the quest for appropriate solutions”, said Katarina Hulmanova, director of the Christian Institutions Forum. The ninth edition of the Fair, with the presentation of organizations seeking to uproot poverty with concrete projects, was held on the international Day for the elimination of poverty celebrated in four cities of Slovakia: Kosice, Bratislava, Trnava e Nitra. “We are not organizing the event in cultural or ecclesiastic seats. Our intention is to speak with people in places like shopping centres; it’s interesting to meet people when they are in the mood for spending money, confronting them with the problem of poverty. Being taken by surprise, many of them feel the need to stop and reflect”, Hulmanova added. Luxembourg: the Catholic Church undergoes “overhaul” The Catholic Church in Luxembourg has undertaken a major “overhaul” so it may increasingly be a “missionary Church, that is called to be close to God and to the men and women of our times”, as announced by the archbishop of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Hollerich last summer. The renewal will involve pastoral ministry as well as the structures of the dioceses and it will take place through a “synodal process, namely a join path of reflection, debate and sharing”, made known the Service for Pastoral Care of the archdiocese. In 5 regional meetings on pastoral care scheduled to take place in different areas of territory of the Grand-Duchy, from October 26 to November 5, will be “presented and discussed projects and challenges of pastoral care in the new parishes”. The new “roadmap” of the archdiocese will equally be presented, coupled by a territorial restructuring of parishes and deaconships. The pastoral renewal process is planned to take place between January 2016 and July 2017.
