CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Polonia/1: evangelization week in Dziegielow”My own good is being near God”: this is the theme of the 65th Evangelization Week that will bring together faithful of Christian denominations in Dziegielow July 5 through 13. Each year, several dozens of faithful convene in the small town located on the border between Poland and the Czech Republic. Participants will attend a seminar by German evangelizer Ulrich Hofius, who for has been promoting “creative evangelization” in Europe for the past thirty years. The program of the event includes concerts, theatrical performances, workshops, seminars, debates, sport initiatives, meetings for children, young people, couples, old people and for the whole family. The meetings for children, divided into age groups, will focus on the theme: “the quest for happiness”, while the works made in the workshops will be sold in auctions. The collected sums will contribute to the funding of charity programs in Burkina Faso. The main theme of this year’s edition is the “Pater Noster”, which “although well-known by the faithful is often underestimated”, said Bozena Giemza, from the missionary Center of the Polish missionary Church. Poland/2: holidays for children from indigent families For many years Caritas Poland has been promoting summer holidays for children and young people from poor families. Next summer, in the framework of the initiative “Holidays with Caritas”, several dozens of thousands children will be able to go to the mountains, to the sea and in the lakes region of Mazury. With a system of text messaging at national level Caritas promotes a fund collection for summer holidays organized by diocesan centers, which in turn promote further fund collections. The sums are used for children who could otherwise not afford a vacation away from home. The charity, in conjunction with Poland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, promotes also a summer vacation in Poland for 1 658 children of Polish origin from Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Romania, who will be taught Polish language during their vacations. The purpose of the initiative is to promote the inclusion of foreign children in Poland. Diocesan Caritas offer paid vacations to 5 thousand children across the country. For this purpose, the Caritas centers will rent approximately 100 summer camps for children. Serbia: only positive aspects from the Pope’s visit “For the State of Serbia the visit of Pope Francis to Belgrade would have only positive aspects”, said Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, on June 17, reiterating the invitation to the Pope pronounced after the signing of the joint agreement on high-school education with the Holy See. However, a papal visit requires also the invitation of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the majority confession in the Country. In his meeting with Monsignor Dominique Mamberti, Segretary for Relations with the States, Dacic conveyed the gratitude of the Serbian population for the Pope’s solidarity expressed in the Angelus prayer after the floods in the region, and for the consistent help given by Catholic associations. Serbian Foreign Minister briefly reported on the bilateral relations with the Holy See, mentioning the positive stand of the Holy See with regard to Belgrade’s EU adhesion. ACN: action also in Ukraine and in Bosnia-Herzegovina “A real miracle, considering the difficult economic circumstances”, said Regina Lynch, international coordinator for ACN projects (Aid to the Church in Need), commenting on the figures of the 2013 fund collection. “The benefactors of the Pontifical foundation donated over 88 million euros”, it’s the second-highest collection ever, in terms of numbers. “Thanks to the generous contributions of so many people we said yes to as many as 5 420 requests of help coming from all over the world”. ACN has promoted and implemented projects across 140 Countries, “especially in places where the Church is the object of persecution and discrimination”. The Middle East, along with nations such as China, Pakistan, Cuba, were the recipients of a third of all offerings. The Pontifical Foundation pointed out that “contributions at international level were divided as follows: aid to building construction 37.4%, intentions of Holy Masses 17.6%, support to theological formation 12.5% and to catechesis 10,3%, motorization 6.9%, Biblical apostolate 5%, emergency aid 4.5%, sustenance 3.7% and media apostolate 2.1%”. Further actions have been carried out in Europe, for example in Ukraine and in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
