Together against poverty ” “

With a view to Sunday Caritas, celebrated December 15, an ecumenical conference on “Humanitarian institutions and organizations of traditional churches in the fight against poverty” was held in Novi Sad (Serbia). The event was attended by the archbishop of Belgrade Msgr. Stanislav Hocevar, by the diocesan directors in the Country, along with religious leaders of the Orthodox and Evangelical Churches and representatives of the Social Work Centre in Novi Sad, and local authorities. Visible Christian love. “Faith without effective and ongoing charity has no reason to exist”. With these words the archbishop of Belgrade, president of Caritas Serbia Msgr. Stanislav Hocevar, underlined the importance of “common efforts” by traditional Christian Churches in the Country in the fight on poverty. “If we work together, even despite our different religious affiliations – the prelate said – there will be less poor people, less people who depend on others, less sick and lonely people”. With the same spirit, archpriest Branko Æurèin, representing the Orthodox bishop of Novi Sad Irinej said it was a “historical” event, and reaffirmed “the need for the Church and the State to act together in the social realm”. “It is our duty as Christians to help people in difficulty bear witness to our faith with concrete actions”, Æurèin added. Concrete examples. For the other member of the Orthodox Church, archmandrite Danilo Ljubotina, “the meeting between people from different religions, different ethical groups and different languages shows a high level of tolerance” (most Catholics in Serbia are of foreign origin, ed.’s note). In his opinion, “the Orthodox Church must intervene where the State doesn’t arrive and heal the wounds of men and women. They should take the positive experience of the Catholic Church in this field as an example”. Ljubotina mentioned also the example of the rehabilitation community “Land of the Living” located in an Orthodox Monastery near Novi Sad. Another concrete experience was shared by Evangelical pastor Rev Vladislav Iviciak, director of the ecumenical humanitarian organization set up by the world Council of Churches to provide support to the population in the Vojvodina region. “If we’re united, the fight on poverty will certainly be effective”, he said. Caritas in every parish. This year the slogan of the Sunday Caritas promoted by the Catholic community, traditionally celebrated in mid-December, was “Caritas in every parish”, which draws inspiration from the apostolic letter of Benedict XVI “Intima ecclesiae nature”. “Serbia Caritas needs to be further developed at parish level”, director don Vladislav Varda told SIR Europe, inviting parish priests to “identify people in difficulty and provide concrete support”. An encouragement in this direction is given by Pope Francis, “who exhorts us to go to the peripheries, and not remain idle”. The social situation. The Balkan country registered economic growth after the Milosevic era but the financial crisis has direly affected its productive and social systems today. “It’s a dire situation as in the rest of Europe – said Fr Varda -, but here the effects of the crisis seem to be even worse”. The main problems are high unemployment rates (approximately 26%) and poverty. “There also are tragic situations”, said the priests, mentioning the case a young father who asked for help at the Caritas centre for he couldn’t afford to send his son to school. “Tragically, shortly after he committed suicide. In these cases Christian hope is vital”, added the Caritas director. Lately, people who can no longer support their family have turned to us for help”. Old people are “the weaker bracket, many of whom are alone as a result of migration waves” of young people to Western countries. “Individualism is a prevailing feature, and that’s why we want to revitalize evangelical mercy in our parishes”, concluded Fr Varda.