CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Bulgaria, national meeting of Catholics "With tenacious faith". It is title of the first national meeting of Bulgaria’s Catholics, due to take place September 6-7 in the diocese of Sofia-Plovdiv, an opportunity to learn more about one another, to meet and strengthen one’s adhesion to the evangelical message in the Year of Faith. Every diocese, parish, religious order and movement has the possibility of sharing their very historical and pastoral features. "With the first meeting of Bulgaria’s Catholics we intend to provide major thrust to the local Catholic Church – the organizer, father Dimitar Dimitrov, told SIR Europe -. As a minority group, it is important to get to know one another and feel part of a larger community". Father Dimitrov is the priest of one of three parishes in the city of Rakovski, chosen as the venue of the meeting, as it is the only city in the Country with a large Catholic population. In his opinion the consequences of secularism and materialism that invade Europe impact also his country, and the tenacious faith of our fathers is no longer as strong". For this reason the program includes also a visit to the cemetery in the General Nicolaevo neighbourhood where are buried many of the Bulgarian bishops and priests persecuted during the Communist regime. A Mass for the new evangelization, celebrated by apostolic nuncio Msgr. Janusz Bolonek, will close the meeting. Switzerland: an ecumenical celebration for WCC A solemn ecumenical prayer took place on Sunday, September 1st in the cathedral of Losanne to celebrate cooperation between the Churches in Switzerland and impart a blessing to the Swiss delegates that will take part from October 30th to November 8 in the assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Busan, Republic of Korea. It will be a "pilgrimage of justice and peace" said Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC secretary general, in his address in Losanne that "will have deep consequences on the ways in which we live our faith as a community and as churches, at individual and communal level, in relations with people from different cultures and religions. To cherish in our horizons ‘the smallest of them’ will influence the path towards peace that we will follow in this pilgrimage". The theme of the assembly, "God of life, bring us towards justice and peace" is "a prayer of communion of churches, determined to remain together despite the differences, because God is greater than differences", said Martin Hirzel (Federation of Swiss Protestant churches). Ukraine: 4 Christian leaders among the most influential peopleThe Korrespondent magazine recognized the top 100 most influential people of Ukraine in 2013 in its issue at the end of August. The results are based on opinion of 18 experts in various fields who were asked to choose candidates who should appear on the list. They took into account the popularity of the figures and their level of influence on the life of the country, the size of controlled companies and lobbying opportunities for businessmen, and the size of mass followers for celebrities and athletes. Major archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) has been ranked 82, cardinal Lubomyr Husar of UGCC is number 31. Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate is on position 49 and the highest rank among the representatives of Christian Churches belongs to metropolitan Volodymyr of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate. Slovakia: Caritas helping Syrian refugeesCaritas Slovakia sent 9,000 EUR to Syrian refugees as a part of its humanitarian aid last week. "The money has been collected by our citizens since April and finally we were able to send 3,000 EUR to Caritas Jordan and 6,000 EUR to Caritas Lebanon last week", explains general secretary of Caritas Slovakia, Radovan Gumulák. Both countries have been helping refugees for several months and this constant flow of Syrian people in need causes many problems, as the refugees lack basic equipment for life. "Caritas offices in Jordan and Lebanon provide them mainly with health care, vaccination and medication, as well as with psychological counselling because there’s a lot of fear and stress among the refugees", continues Gumulák. "Our role is to support these people. They don’t need only material help, they need love. Our collaborators try to listen to their stories, understand their pain and contribute to healing of wounds on their souls", testifies president of Caritas Lebanon, P. Simon Faddoul. The collection of money by Caritas Slovakia continues, with aim to support also the Syrian refugees in Turkey.
