CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Poland: Saint Stanislaus patron of moral orderFollowing the annual tradition, on Sunday night thousands of pilgrims gathered in Krakow where they attended the solemn liturgical service in honour of Saint Stanislaus, "father of the nation and foundation of the faith" of the Polish people. Saint Stanislaus, bishop of Krakow from 1072 to 1079, was killed by King Boleslaw II while celebrating Mass. Canonized in Assisi by Pope Innocent IV in 1253, Saint Stanislaus is the patron saint of Poland but he is venerated especially in Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and the United States. The Sunday celebrations in Krakow, in the octave of the festivity that recurs May 8, were attended by many cardinals as well as by Polish and foreign Church dignitaries, among them the apostolic nuncio in Warsaw Msgr. Celestino Migliore. The solemn liturgy in the church of Saint Micheal called "na Skalce" was officiated by Msgr. John Meyers, metropolitan of Newark (United States), while the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Msgr. Gerhard Ludwig Müller in his homily underlined that today "there is a great need to imitate the courage of the Saint, bishop and martyr" as "we cannot lie in hiding": "the love for God should prompt us to have courage and bear testimony of life". The prelate recalled that in Poland Saint Stanislaw is recognized as patron of moral order: "a lot should be done to ensure that moral order is recovered and strengthened, so that man may be given the place he deserves, enabling him to preserve his human dignity". "Today we must strongly preserve our faith", the prelate said, underlining that "we cannot be passive witnesses when Christ is insulted, nor accept the refusal of God and the confinement of religion to the private sphere". Card. Stanislaw Dziwisz, archbishop of Krakow, former private secretary of John Paul II, who welcomed the participants in the ceremony, highlighted the extent to which the martyrdom of Saint Stanislaw contributed in terms of faith, hope and Christian love to the Polish people, and underlined the topical relevance of the Christian witness borne by the saint. The celebrations, promoted with the intention of stepping up commitment for the new evangelization in parishes and across society as a whole, were anticipated by the remembrance of Saint Stanislaw in Szczepanow, his place of birth, presided over by Msgr. Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council of the Pastoral care of Health workers. Germany-Poland: common prayer in the Year of Faith A common prayer of German and Polish Catholic faithful marking the Year of Faith was celebrated past Saturday in the Polish city of Krzeszow, near the border with Germany. Some 500 German Catholics from the diocese of Görlitz accompanied by bishop Msgr. Wolfgang Ipolt were welcomed to Poland by the representative of the diocese of Legnica, dean of the diocesan seminary Leopold Rzodkiewicz, and by a large group of presbyters and numerous faithful. The catechesis for the German faithful was led by Rev. Rzodkiewicz, and for the Poles by Msgr. Alfred Hoffman, general vicar of the diocese of Görlitz. The Eucharistic celebration was officiated in Latin but the reading and Liturgy of the Word were officiated in both languages. "I welcome this initiative – said the ordinary of Görlitz at the end of the pilgrimage – we prayed in many different languages. And even though we don’t always understand each other, we realized that we share the same language, our faith, and that we can share it as we share our bread". The common prayers jointly recited by Germans and Poles are an initiative set up a few years ago which shows a growing interest on the part of both border communities.Austria: "The long night of the Churches"The "Long Night of the Churches" is a "good opportunity to express the ecumenical union of all the Churches in Austria" whilst encouraging citizens to learn more about vital and open Christian communities. It was underlined on May 13 in Vienna by the evangelical superintendent of Vienna Hans Jörg Lein, by the Vetero-Catholic bishop John Okoro and by Catholic Episcopal bishop Dariusz Schutzki during the presentation of the program of the Long Night of the Churches, due to be held May 24. The initiative, that reached its ninth edition, envisages the opening of over 730 churches across Austria from 6.00 p.m. to past midnight with 3000 scheduled events. The initiative, Lein said, is "an opportunity to draw people close to something they didn’t know of before, to enable them to experience a multifaceted reality of the Churches and engage in dialogue with new friends", shedding light on the reality of "small Churches as well as on multifaceted reality of ecumenism". The "Long night is addressed to everyone, to critics and to curious people and faithful". It provides a "major opportunity to welcome also those who haven’t entered a church for a long time", Schutzki said. A celebration at the Lutheran Church in Vienna will open the event. The auxiliary bishop emeritus of Vienna Monsignor Helmut Krätzl will deliver a homily on the significance of the Second Vatican Council in the ecumenical realm.
