CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Germany: social commitment for youths in Münster A few days ago 177 young people in the area of Oldenburg, in the diocese Münster, have started attending traineeships in social institutions in the framework of an action called “Change of scene”: 68 young people will spend five days in a nursery school during their Easter holidays, with the support of the local Caritas. 23 youths will be trained for assistance to the disabled in healthcare centres, while 18 volunteers will provide eldercare in old age institutions. The remaining 68 youths will provide counsel in youth centres, missions, reception structures and other centres linked to and coordinated by the initiative. One in four participants are women. Activities are organized by Caritas in conjunction with its evangelical counterpart, Diakonia, with the support of German Catholic Youths and Young Evangelicals. The event is promoted by two famous basket players in the German national championship, Dominik de Mello e Flavio Stückemann. The campaign is carried out in Oldenburg and in other centres across the region, with a great involvement of young people: “Change of scene” is an opportunity to develop the role of social work” said the director of the Caritas campaign, Gerhard Tepe. Belarus: program of the Year of Prayer The Conference of Catholic Bishops of Belarus has outlined the list of main events due to take place within the framework of thhe Year of Prayer declared for 2014. A national congress dedicated to the rosary tradition consisting of several seminars and workshops in all Catholic dioceses of the country will take place in October this year. Its first part will be held in the Minsk-Mogilev Archdiocese on 4-5 October, the second part will take place on 11-12 October in the Vitebsk Diocese. Representatives of clergy and laity of the Grodno Diocese will meet on 18-19 October. The conference will culminate in the Pinsk Diocese on 25-26 October and apart from the main topic dedicated to history and presence of rosary prayers and tradition of the devotion of the Catholics in Belarus to Virgin Mary, it will be associated with the celebration of the 100th anniversary of birth of the first Belarussian cardinal Kazimierz wi¹tek (October 1914 – July 2011). Slovakia: petition for a referendum on the family A petition for the referendum about protection of family in Slovakia started on Saturday 5 April in Bratislava with collection of the first signatures. The campaign, organised by the Alliance for Family (AF), aims to “guarantee by law that the family based on relationship between father and mother represents the best environment for children”. The referendum should contain four questions. “We want to ask the citizens of the Slovak republic if they agree that marriage is reserved only for a bond of one man and one woman; if they agree that the persons of the same sex would not be granted the right to adopt children and rise them; if they agree that no other form of cohabitation apart from marriage should be attributed a special protection, rights and duties; and finally – if they agree that parents should have right to refuse participation of their children in school education regarding sexual behaviour or euthanasia if they consider it to be inappropriate”, explains Anton Chromík from AF, hoping that in the following months the initiators of the petition will be able to collect at least 350.000 required signatures. “We offer Slovakia an opportunity to say that it doesn’t want any social experiments and that for the future development of the society it’s necessary to stabilize functioning key institutions”, adds one of the spokesmen of AF Peter Kremský. In the case the petition is successfull, there is a possibility that the referendum will take place along with communal elections in autumn 2014.
