CHURCHES IN BRIEF" "
Czech Republic: Caritas appraisal, new website In times of crisis, Czechs are not silent – with these words, the Caritas Czech Republic evaluated the sense of solidarity of the citizens during 2013 and their reaction to key events requiring help of public. According to Jakub Líèka, new general secretary of the national office of Caritas, during the past 20 years this institution provided help in 28 countries of the world and participated at liquidation of damages of seven floods that have hit the country since 1993. “Humanitarian aid is one of the most crucial services that Caritas can offer to the society”, affirms Líèka, pointing to the prize “Gratias Agit” awarded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for “spreading of a good will of the Czech republic abroad”. Megan King, coordinator of charitable humanitarian and developmen aid, specifies that over 900 households affected by severe floods in 2013 were supported from 41 million CZK (over 1.5 million EUR) collected from small and big donors, Churches and municipalities. Caritas has entered the new year 2014 with a new website www.humanitarnipomoc.cz, where all necessary information about humanitarian aid, collections and their use in the Czech republic and abroad can be found. Slovakia, reflection on the social doctrine The basic principles of social teaching of the Church, value of earthly goods for eternal life, human rights, ethical aspects of corruption, right for private property, justice as an inevitable base for love – these topics are being discussed within the framework of lectures about various aspects of social teaching of the Catholic church that have been running in the Archdiocese of Bratislava since September 2013. The meetings taking place once a month at the premises of the Commenius University in Bratislava, have been initiated by archbishop metropolitan of Bratislava, Mons. Stanislav Zvolenský, with aim to inform wide public about the competences of the Church in regard to social, political or economical questions. “We are convinced that the social teaching of the Church can help better consolidation of human society, mainly in the moments of economic crisis that has a strong impact also on Slovakia in a form of high unemployment rate or declining standard of living”, explains Mons. Zvolenský, pointing to the example of pope Francis who – “with his words and deeds” – is a “great testimony of the social teaching of the Church”, paying a significant deal of attention to the problems in this area”. In the light of the Holy Scripture and Catholic tradition we want to offer the truth that we have been revealed and about which we are convinced that it can contribute to development of a contemporary man”, concludes the archbishop. Austria, 50 years of the Pro Orient foundation A solemn celebration and a scientific conference will mark the 50th anniversary of the ecumenical foundation “Pro Orient”. It was announced by Pro Orient presidentJohann Marte, during an ecumenical reception held at the archbishopric of Wien January 22. Panel speakers, Marte said, include card. Christoph Schönborn, president of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference, ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, Copt-Orthodox Patriarch Tavadros II, as well as Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity. The celebrations will be opened by an ecumenical liturgy at the Schottenkirche and will continue at the University of Vienna. To mark the occasion will also be held a three-day conference on the Church boundaries, understood as an ideal continuation of the historical “Koinonia” Conference held in 1974, which, according to Marte, “paved the way to the official dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox”, launched in 1980. The November conference will mark a new direction in terms of geography and content for the Commission of historians of the Foundation, one the Pro Orient departments of highest responsibility. To date the Commission had exclusively dealt with the area that includes the Countries born of the dissolution of Yugoslavia, as well as Albania. For the future, “there is the intention to take into account also Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, and to extend cooperation with scholars in scientific academic disciplines”, said the president of the Foundation. The new objectives of the Commission include cooperation with OECD. The Commission of historians – which studies the effects of religion on social and political events in south-eastern Europe – includes scholars from Bosnia, Bulgaria, Germania, Croatia, Austria, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia, belonging to various religious communities”.In this way”, states the official Pro Orient release, “we intend to contribute to a positive approach to multiplicity and social reconciliation among the States of the region”.
