CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Slovakia: open letter to prime ministerRepresentatives of 43 non-profit organizations and civil associations in Slovakia sent a letter to prime minister Robert Fico on 10 April. They appreciate the will of government and state resorts to cooperate with the third sector, declared at the beginning of April. At the same time they turn to him with request to "revise current system of public allocations for the non-profit sector, to make it more transparent, solidary and serving to public interests, not to lobby groups and political interests". Signatories of the letter point to the fact that in 2012, the state allocated over 480,000 EUR for "ideological activities of gender lobby and LGBTI activities" and they ask to limit access to subventions for lobistic non-government organizations based on any kind of ideology. "It’s in clear contradiction to the principles of freedom and bases of civil society", continues the letter, inviting the prime minister to allocate grants to non-political and non-ideological organizations which – in accordance with legislation – perform activities in favour of public interest in the area of education, social services, health care, culture, science and research.Belarus: remembering air tragedy in SmolenskThe faithful of Belarus and Poland commemorated the third anniversary of the air tragedy near Smolensk that killed 96 plane passengers including president of Poland Lech Kaczynski, his wife and most of the country’s political elite. The eucharistic celebration took place in the Minsk cathedral and was presided over by archbishop of Minsk-Mogilev, Mons. Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz. As he said in his homily, we are experiencing the Easter period and it’s time to reflect on the mystery of salvation. "The truth about Christ’s resurrection is a guarantee of eternal life. This truth teaches us that life doesn’t end in death but it continues in eternity", continued the prelate. He recalled the fact that the tragedy occured during the flight of the representatives of Poland who wanted to commemorate the victims of the Katyn massacre in 1940 and pray for them. "Nobody can answer the question why. It’s a secret revealed only to God and all the deceased are entrusted to his mercy", concluded Mons. Kondrusiewicz. Ukraine: celebration of Baptism of Kyivan RusThe representatives of the Kyiv City Administration participated at the meeting of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations held on 10 April to discuss the celebrations of the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus-Ukraine. As they reported, the work on preparation for the reconstruction of St. Volodymyr’s Hill and restoration of the panorama Golgotha is under way. The priority objectives include the restoration of the monuments to St. Volodymyr, princess Olha, Cyril and Methodius. It is also planned to restore the belfry and the foreside of St. Michael Golden Dome Cathedral and to carry out repair works in the Monastery of the Holy Intercession. According to representatives of the Kyiv City State Administration, special attention at the meeting was paid to the renewal of the stairs and reconstruction of the Column of the Magdeburg Law. It is also planned to erect a memorial sign in honor of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus on the bank of Dnipro river. The department of Architecture and City Development of the Kyiv City State Administration will hold a tender to select a design of the monument. The designs are to be approved in coordination with representatives of various denominations of the capital of Ukraine.
