CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Slovalia: natural catastrophes relief projectCaritas Slovakia has launched a cooperation with nine other national European offices of Caritas, including Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia, Turkey, Montenegro and Romania. Its aim is to achieve better coordination of rescue services and humanitarian aid in case of natural catastrophes. The pilot training meeting of national coordinators for emergency situations took place on 22-24 October in Istanbul. The program is focused on adoption of techniques and methodical procedures, with aim to build aid capacities that can be effectively used in a state of emergency. "This project will enable Caritas Slovakia and our diocesan offices to acquire new skills and knowledge and to create a space for mutual exchange of experiences at the international level", explains Júlia Aguado, Slovak coordinator for emergency situations. "We are convinced that the project will contribute significantly to the improvement of professional approach of the European Caritas institutions in regard to effectiveness of their reactions to the needs of affected inhabitants in case of natural disasters", adds Thomas Hackl, manager of the project.Ukraine: Christian Churches and dialogue with the State Deep concern over the current Church-state relations was the main topic discussed at the meeting of the Council of Representatives of Christian Churches of Ukraine (CRCCU) on 1 November, held under the chairmanship of evangelical bishop Mykhailo Panochko. Its delegates pointed to the fact that lately, "the authorities have often showed a lack of attention to the proposals and initiatives of public institutions, including Churches and religious organizations". Among the examples of inefficiency of the dialogue between the government and society, participants mentioned the adoption of the language law, which caused an uproar among citizens; the adoption of alterations to the Law of Ukraine on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations (Bill 10221); and the content of the decisions of the government’s Committee on Ensuring Rights of Religious Organizations. According to the Institute for Religious Freedom, the representatives of Churches have agreed that their position in the dialogue with state authorities in the future will depend on the president’s decision regarding their appeal to veto the alterations to the Bill 10221. The program of the meeting also included discussion on the preparation of joint events to mark the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus. France: appeal to oppose gay marriage "When the Church appeals to human conscience, it doesn’t seek to impose a specific concept of existence. It refers to what our civilization has deciphered as the sense of human life and of the respect of the personal dignity of each person". In the homily delivered in Lourdes on November 4, the president of French bishops Cardinal André Vingt-Trois returned to speak of the draft law that will be presented today, November 7, by the French government for the legalization of homosexual marriages and adoptions by gay couples. In the Marian sanctuary is ongoing the plenary assembly of French bishops, due to close on Thursday. "Our Christian faith and wisdom – His Eminence said – have played an important role in this consciousness raising process", but "when these imperatives of the human conscience and criticized and rejected by laws which redefine the conditions of coexistence, we cannot remain silent". "When we defend children’s right to grow up taking as the point of reference the man or the woman who gave birth to them, we aren’t defending a specific position". "We recognize what is expressed in the practices and wisdom of all peoples since the dawn of civilization". In his homily the archibishop spoke of the Year of Faith and of the difficulties encountered by Christian faithful who try to express the "consequences" of his religious beliefs. "Some people may thus see Christianity as a heavy burden, especially in contemporary society, dominated by personal desires", the archbishop said. But the rules, he concluded, "are for the greater good of the human person".
