Austria, Portugal, Romania

Austria: faith is not dying outEven though the Catholic Church grows smaller in numerical terms, Christian faith is not dying out in Austria, said Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna, President of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference, during the traditional ecumenical meeting held in Vienna on January 23 at the Archbishop’s see. The leaders of Christian Churches in Austria attended the meeting, to the presence of Austria’s Secretary of State for Integration Sebastian Kurz. The cardinal underlined the presence in Austria of numerous Churches belonging to the Orthodox, Eastern traditions as well as to the Free Churches. "We welcome the fact that five federations of Free Churches have come together under the ‘Free Churches of Austria, thus obtaining the status of recognized religious community, His Eminence said. The archbishop mentioned "the great need for a social presence of Churches across society" as "Churches are necessary also in the area of education". Cardinal Schönborn mentioned, to this regard, the pedagogical ecumenical University of Vienna-Krems. His Eminence thus invited all Churches to pray and extend their commitment for persecuted Christians across the world. Referring to Benedict XVI, who invited the faithful not to evaluate the progress of ecumenism according to figures, the Cardinal said that "it’s more important to mutually listen to one another and learn from each other what it means to be Christian". During the meeting was introduced the new patriarchal delegate of the Armenian apostolic Church for Central Europe and Scandinavia, Tiran Petrossian, who since January is also responsible of the Armenian faithful in Austria. Petrossian highlighted the common ground of "faith, uniting all the Churches".Portugal: rights and rehabilitation of prisonersOn January 26-27 the Portuguese Church promoted in Fatima a national meeting of penitentiary pastoral care dedicated to the theme "Human rights and penal system", in order to define and step up the commitment for the rehabilitation of detainees. At the end of the meeting, the coordinator for this area, father João Gonçalves, underlined the importance of moral and legal support to detainees: "The more people fail to feel proscribed for having committed a crime, regardless its nature, the more grows their self-respect, crucial to their reintegration into society". The theme chosen is due to "a significant increase in the number of detainees and overcrowded prisons", causing a wide range of related problems, pointed out the auxiliary bishop of Lisbon Msgr. Joaquim Mendes. "Commitment and cooperation with the detention system, with the directors of detention institutions and with its guards are necessary to promote the respect for the value and dignity of the human person". The main concern is the "practice of suicide, linked to deep solitude along with the fact that a large number of detainees are cast aside". In cooperation with the State, the Church thus wishes to step up her spiritual assistance and voluntary visits, "so as to provide detainees with a prospect of inner redemption and social rehabilitation". "The more an individual develops his spiritual drive – concluded Msgr. Mendes – the more he will feel serene and capable of creating peace around him".Romania: letter of Msgr. Ioan Robu to journalistsOn the occasion of the liturgical commemoration of St. Francis de Sales and of the 90th anniversary of the proclamation of the Saint as Patron of Catholic journalists and writers, Msgr. Ioan Robu, Metropolitan Archbishop of Bucharest, in charge of Social Communications for the Romanian Bishops’ Conference, sent a letter to Catholic journalists, bloggers and writers of Romania. Starting with the example of St. Francis, who reached out to all those who did not attend Mass by copying his sermons by hand in the form of leaflets, and placed them under doors on walls. Msgr. Robu highlighted the connection with Benedict XVI’s 2013 message for the World Day of Social Communications: "Today’s new technologies enable readers to access information through different kinds of doors and walls, on Internet pages and social networks, which are areas for evangelization, doors for truth and faith". "In these new places – the archbishop added -, information isn’t a simple news item. Rather, it is reason for sharing, taking on an anthropological dimension, and carrying with it a part of those who share it, something drawing from their own experience and their own lives. For this reason, although many years separate us from the times when Saint Francis de Sales lived and preached, his message bears a strong topical relevance to Catholic journalists today and to all those who disseminate, promote and defend Christian teaching with their writings". "The public domain in which Catholic journalists express themselves – be it television, radio, the press or the Internet – also becomes an area for personal Christian witness underlying everyday life. The credibility of the message will thus result from the consistency of the witness and the life experiences, from integrity, from serving the common good and the respect of human dignity, from following the teaching of the Gospel". The archbishop encouraged journalists, bloggers and Catholic journalists to seek, during the Year of Faith, to learn more of their patron Saint and follow his example. Finally, the Archbishop delivered a blessing and a prayer, that journalists "may always bravely bear witness to their faith and their Christian values".