CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Portugal: Jota Festival, youths and the Gospel For the first time, from July 31 to August 2, the Jota Festival will take place in Faro, in the diocese of Algarve, where “music, coexistence, formation and other activities will represent a special context for youth evangelization”. The major event of national Christian music will be held this year in a pine forest very close to the beaches in Southern Portugal: “In addition to the contact with nature, it’s an opportunity to involve young people that are on vacation in the region”, said the artistic director of the Festival, Father Jorge Castela. The head of Youth Ministry algarvia added that in addition to music “will be offered activities for reflection and catechesis, titled ‘Faces of Mercy’, in the context of the Jubilee and the World Youth Days (Krakow 2016). The program envisages also traditional and contemporary workshops”. The 2015 edition of the Jota Festival will also present “a novelty, represented by the theater group ‘Young man, get up”, and the participation of the Graal music band, that on the occasion will be presenting their first album. France: Youth Forum with the “Emmanuel” The Emmanuel Community invites to attend the “Youth Forum” to be held in Paray-le-Monial, the headquarters of the Community, from 8 to 13 August. “Free? Really? “It is the theme for 2015: for five days young people will be involved in “prayer, education, praise, friendships, meetings, testimonies and concerts”. Among the special guests figures Christina Noble, from Ireland, starring in the film with the same name released in May who after a difficult life decided to devote herself to the street children in Vietnam and Mongolia reaching to over 700 thousand through her foundation . Last year about 2 thousand young people had attended this happening. The Catholic community of Emmanuel, set up in France in the early seventies, is of charismatic nature. Today it operates in 59 world countries. Spain: vocational training with the Salesians In Spain some volunteers of the multinational JP Morgan have shared their financial knowledge with the youth of the “First experience” program, developed by the Salesian Social Platforms. The project, led by the Federation of Salesian Social Platforms “Pinardi” and by JP Morgan, is allowing the access of 80 young people without qualifications to diversified training in first level companies such as Grupo Vips, KFC, Meliá, Hilton Madrid Airport or Parques Reunidos. Managing daily operations such as income and expenditure, obtaining a loan, understanding how banks work, how to save are difficult tasks for young people who participate in these programs, many of whom are immigrants. The volunteers of the JP Morgan shared with young people the basic skills of this environment. Pinardi and J.P. Morgan launched the project “First experience” in October last year, with the aim to “provide opportunities for young people with less options in our society”, explained Jesús Javier Llorente, president of the Federation Pinardi. Young people included in the project learn specific skills in their fields of training thanks to partner companies and also receive English lessons, financial education and other professional skills, thereby improving their level of employability. “Hilton Hopes” is one of the programs that are part of the project. Nine youths have graduated, which certifies the training received in the catering and hotel businesses. Russia: Orthodox Church, prayer for the Creation The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church established “an annual special day of prayer for God’s Creation” on the first Sunday of September. The decision was taken during the meeting held last week in Saint Petersburg. On that Sunday the archpriests and the priests will “dedicate their sermon to the Creation” and for that celebration the liturgical commission also prepared a special prayer. The In the minutes the Orthodox Church underlines the fact that the meeting of the primates of the Orthodox Churches in 2008 had suggested that the day of Creation be celebrated on 1 September, as is the case in many Orthodox Churches, but since that day “marks the beginning of the academic year in secular and denominational schools”, with “a special prayer for the students”, the Russian Orthodox Church “does not consider the combination of two important days appropriate”. In fact, “on Sundays there are many more people in churches” and the “recitation of prayer has a wider scope”.
