CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Czech republic: "Lenten alms" projectA project entitled "Lenten alms" organized by Caritas Czech republic started on 13 February in all parishes of the country. The aim of the collection, due to last until the end of the Lenten period, is to raise money for the people in need in respective regions. "This kind of spiritual experience is a very suitable instrument for the families with children. There are many ways to restrain oneself and to help others. A deep social dimension of Christian faith can be found in deeds of generosity", said Mons. Jan Graubner, archbishop of Olomouc. "The alms is an expression of courage to change ourselves through the help to others", adds Mons. Vojtech Cikrle, bishop of Brno. The money from the last year’s edition of the project have been used for funding of summer stay for children from socially disadvantaged families, construction of the facilities for the disabled and for purchase of quilts and cushions for the patients of hospices.Slovakia: National Marriage Week in courseDespite the fact that 90% inhabitants of Slovakia consider family to be an important value in their life, fidelity is seen as an essential value only by 48% of them. That’s why the organizers of this year’s edition of the National Marriage Week (NMW), according to figures released by the press office of the Slovakian Bishops’ Conference, decided to focus the event on a theme "Marriage is not a weakness". The idea to organize events celebrating the beauty and importance of marriage came into existence in 1997 in England. The tradition of NMW was established by Richard Kane, renowned motivator and activist, who came to support the event to Slovakia by participation at the press conference held on 11 February in Bratislava. "Husband and wife are always busy with rising children and with work. They rarely have time to think about their marriage but everyone wants to live in a healthy, happy marriage, not in a bad relationship. And this week is here to remind them of a need to stop, evaluate their marriage and come up with ideas of how to improve it", explains Richard Kane. National Marriage Week is traditionally associated with a wide range of events and activities in all corners of the country. On the national level, its coordinators have decided to initiate a change to the Law on family by imposing a duty on married couples who intend to get divorced, to go through a mediation or marriage counselling with aim to maintain their marriage. For more information: www.ntm.sk.Ukraine: head of UGCC met with mayor of KyivOn 8 February, His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), met with the head of the Kyiv City State Administration, Oleksandr Popov, to talk about mutual cooperation. "It is a historic meeting for our Church as the last such meeting was held ten years ago, when Oleksandr Omelchenko was the mayor and His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar was the head of UGCC", said the hierarch according to the Information Department of UGCC. As he added, it is important to show that this Church has become an "integral part" of the Kyiv city community since Ukraine’s independence. "We work for the good of the city, for the people living here. There are plenty of us in the capital. Therefore, we would like to invest all this potential in all the good things in Kyiv", concluded His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
