CHURCHES IN BRIEF
The Netherlands: prayer chain in monasteries The abbot of the Trappist Abbey of Our Lady of Koningshoeven, Bernard Peeters, sent a letter to all monastic communities in The Netherlands to call for participation in a “chain of prayer” during the entire Year of Consecrated life, called by the Pope for 2015. The purpose of this initiative is threefold, the abbot wrote: “To thank for the past; embrace the future with hope; be spiritually united with the prayers in monasteries throughout the world”. The proposal is for every community to “book” the week of prayer when the community will freely decided how to animate the prayers. Abbot Peeters, coordinator of the initiative, suggested to “add an additional intercession in morning or evening prayers or in the Eucharist. But it is also possible to hold an additional prayer service”. The trappist abbey of Koningshoeven organizes also a prayer vigil for the evening of Saturday, November 29, on the occasion of the celebrations for the opening of the Year of Consecrated Life to be held in Rome. Slovakia: 165 years of the Catholic journal The most ancient Catholic communication media in Slovakia will celebrate the 165th anniversary of its foundation in the month of November. “It is a traditional journal of contemporary Christians. We welcome the fact that tradition is enhanced by people who find the force to face with dignity the challenges of this globalized world”, said Fr Marian Surab, editor of the newspaper. He told SIR Europe that the major role of this Catholic journal – a weekly publication with over 80thousand regular readers – consists in “offering a Christian vision of man, the family, society, situations and circumstances surrounding us”. Its main target readers are Catholic faithful, however, interesting reports regard also other Christian denominations or people who claim they are not affiliated to any religious confession. Father Surab spoke of the benefits of freedom in Slovakia obtained 25 years ago and he underlined the need for journalists “to show a great sense of responsibility to this regard”. “It is a responsibility towards God, the Church and readers”, added the news editor, conveying his gratitude towards all those who have been faithful readers of this Catholic journal for decades, wishing fruitful future developments stemming from these close relations. Czech Republic: social support to ex-convicts The representatives of the diocese of Litomericin in the Czech Republic have recently met the representatives of the governmental Agency for Social Integration to discuss the possibility of closer cooperation in the field of social support to ex-detainees and their re-integration into society. “The bishopric intends to cooperate in this process with various projects”, said Fr Stanislav Pribyl, General Vicar of the diocese. In concrete terms he spoke of strengthening the work of penitentiary chaplains and extend opportunities for ex-detainees in their efforts to find stable employment. Greater attention to this problem will be devoted by Caritas Czech Republic, which is expected to supply complex services to this population bracket often marginalized by citizens. “We welcome this cooperation as it represents one of the modes of integration that can be realized by the Church in a very natural way”, said the representatives of the governmental Agency. Since the beginning of the year were have created 42 new job opportunities for ex-detainees in the region of Liberec and 24 in the district of Teplice.
