The challenge of communication

The Bishops’ Conferences of Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland) concluded on March 20 their spring plenary meeting. The bishops were hosted by Cistercian monks in their convent in Heiligenkreuz, near Vienna.The bishops’ gratitude. In a statement to the press, released at the end of the meeting (March 15-20), the bishops made known that in a letter to Pope Francis they "congratulate him for his election and for the beginning of his pontificate". The bishops assure that the faithful in their respective countries "will support him with their prayers". At the same time, the bishops expressed their gratitude to Pope Benedict for his Church leadership and "for having carried this heavy burden during the past eight years".The Church and the media. In the plenary meeting of past September, in Tromsø, Norway, a problematic knot came to the fore, i.e., the relationship between the media and the Church. In particular, the bishops seek to convey "Church thought and activity" through the media. The bishops expressed their criticism of media reports on sexual abuse, which deliberately omitted the efforts and the commitments aimed at "solving past cases of abuse and ensuring that they may never happen again". The bishops asked whether it is due to "a communication-gap on the part of the bishops themselves or whether it is caused by a lack of interest and respect on the part of the media". Expert journalists will be consulted to provide a more accurate picture of the situation.The formation of new priests. The bishops approved the new statutes for the seminaries in Nordic Countries, marked by "remarkable increases in the number of young candidates to the priesthood. At present, there are 60 candidates to the priesthood undergoing spiritual formation in seminaries and formation homes to serve in our Countries". The deans of the seminaries "will continue tutoring the candidates to preserve high academic levels and to perfect individual maturity". Attendants of theology courses include "faithful converted from the Lutheran Church who seek to develop and complete their theological formation".Catholics of Eastern Churches. Many Catholics of Eastern Churches live in Nordic countries, mostly in Sweden. The bishops have established contacts with them in order to meet their pastoral needs. Jurisdictional and pastoral responsibility issues that are still pending will be solved in agreement with the related communities in accordance with the Holy See.” “” “Germany: Youth competition for promotion projectsOn March 26 the competition "Jungenwelten" was launched by the department for the pastoral care of young people of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK), as announced on its website in a release. All ecclesial groups are invited to present "innovative promotion projects of young people". The competition is addressed to parishes, youth associations, schools, kindergartens, and to social service centres for the young which have developed creative ways to actively involve groups of young people or adults for participation in the life of the local Church". The purpose is "to give visibility to a varied range of proposals and highlight the efforts made, often through volunteer work". The project is coordinated by the DBK department for pastoral care of young people and by the office for male pastoral care in the dioceses, promoted by the archbishop of Bamberg, Monsignor Ludwig Schick, and the bishop of Spira, Monsignor Karl-Heinz Wiesemann, in charge of this sector. Groups or individuals can present their proposals by July 31st by logging on www.wettbewerb-jungenwelten.de. A jury of experts and university professors will examine the proposals.