CHURCHES IN BRIEF" "
Spain: the “24 hours that move the world””Manos unidas”, the association of the Catholic Church in Spain for help, promotion and development of the Third World, will celebrate for the first time on November 21, the “24 Hours that move the world” (# 24hManosUnidas), a global awareness solidarity initiative that will begin this week, ongoing until December 13, in 24 Spanish cities, via over 40 different events; 24 of these initiatives will be held on November 21 in 15 cities. One of them, “Turn on the flame”, will last 24 hours running, throughout the planet. The initiatives of “24 Hours that move the world” while having a local feature pertaining to the Spanish cities in which they will be held, will also have a ” world breath” through the use of new technologies, particularly the Internet. Through the slogan “You can move the world,” Manos Unidas aims at “involving each and every person to bring about a social change in the direction of solidarity, in order to have a fairer world for all”. “Light a flame”, for Manos Unidas is a “symbolic” reminder of the need “to work together for the integral development of all people”. “From 20 November – states a release by the Association – a sea of light will spread throughout, from east to west, arriving on the evening of November 21 in Madrid”. In fact, in all the places where the association operates, in parishes, schools, parks, sports stadiums, theatres, in places of significance, a candle will be lit, with the intention to create a trail of light that unites the whole world. Portugal, message on labour and ethical challenges The Plenary Assembly of the Portuguese Bishops Conference (CEP) took place in Fatima, 11 to 14 November last, attended by the Apostolic Nuncio, Msgr. Rino Passigato. During the meeting the bishops adopted a Message on “Ethical Issues of human labour,” in which labour market is seen as one of the most serious problems of the country: “To work is a duty and it is also a right which must be exercised by the human person in a position of dignity”, the document states. “The current global recession has a European dimension. But the crisis is not only economic. It is also ethical, spiritual and human. At its roots lies the betrayal of the common good. And it is therefore necessary to remove centrality to the law of profit and gain, prioritizing instead the human person and the common good”. The Assembly also issued a pastoral letter titled “Speaking of gender identity”, which criticizes the “anthropological revolution under way that tries to overshadow gender identity understood as a condition of natural and organic condition to replace it with the construction of an identity that everyone creates for oneself, regardless of the gender at birth”. Austria: Landau, “Caritas must be awkward” Caritas Austria has a new president: Micheal Landau was elected a few days ago. For many years he served as director of Caritas in the archdiocese of Vienna. Landau succeeds Franz Küberl who held the post for 18 years and who will continue serving as Caritas director for the diocese of Graz-Seckau. They will take office on November 29. Landau thanked for his re-election and underlined that “solidarity and love for our neighbour will continue being part and parcel of Caritas’ daily efforts, showing support to people living on the borders of society and on the borders of life, taking care of their needs”, regardless of whether they are the homeless in Austria or the many victims in the Philippines, hit by typhoon Haiyan”. Caritas “should be perceived as awkward”: it must “lay a finger in the sore points of society” bearing witness of “unconditional love for the others”. Laudau appealed to policymakers in the “struggle against and prevention of poverty” that must top government agenda. Future challenges can be faced only “if we are united and we don’t forget the weak”. It is necessary to “understand whether we want a society in which increasing numbers of people no longer are capable of facing daily life, or if we want a society in which people take responsibility for each other”.
