CHURCHES IN BRIEF
The Netherlands: Catholics and Protestants, joint document on the Reformation The Catholic and Protestant Churches in The Netherlands are working on a joint statement ahead of the celebrations marking the 500th anniversary of The Reformation, in 2017. The announcement was given by the bishop of Groningen-Leeuwarden, Mons. Gerard de Korte, and Arjan Plaisier, Secretary of the Protestant Church in The Netherlands (PKN) during a debate in Hardenberg on “The future and challenges of Churches by 2025”. The document “will have a historical approach but it will also look ahead”, said Msgr. De Korte, pointing out that it will be addressed “to Churches and society alike”. The document is designed to respond to the question on “how to bear Christian witness in a way that is interesting today and transmit the Gospel message to the young generations”. The Churches intend to give “renewed thrust” to ecumenism and jointly celebrate 500 years since the Reformation. The working group consisting of representatives of both confessions has already met twice. Among the Catholic members of the working group figure the bishop of Rotterdam Hans van den Hende, delegate for ecumenism, and Msgr. Gerard de Korte, delegate for social questions. Spain/1: Caritas efforts for convicts Until next June, some 200 convicts in the prison of Jaén will take part in a set of workshops organized by Caritas through its program for detainees. The project consists in providing therapeutic, recreational and educational services, also to help people released from prison reintegrate into society, coming from an environment marked by loneliness and emptiness. For Caritas providing the tools to facilitate the social inclusion of individuals stripped of their freedom is a priority. The first workshops are dedicated to social capabilities or moment of relax associated with music. Others will follow on sign language, cinema, and English lessons. All together there are 17 workshops with 28 volunteers and 204 registered students. “This year we shall continue the work begun last year, made possible thanks to the cooperation of many volunteer workers, most of whom are university students”, said Francisco Oya, coordinator of the Caritas program for convicts. As part of their preparation, volunteers are imparted lessons on detention culture and on the identity of Caritas, which has been actively committed in the penitentiary of Jaén for the past twenty years. Its activity focuses on accompaniment to convicts not only during their detention period but also when they undertake the difficult path of reintegration into society once they are out of prison. Spain/2: Jesuits’ intervention in the social sector The Jesuits are deeply committed in the social sector in Spain, in many different ways. Their priority is migration, minors and youths at risk of social exclusion, along with international cooperation for development. These activities are carried out thanks to over twenty professional bodies and Jesuit communities. At the same time, thousands of missionaries are involved (600 from Spain), engaged in the field of justice. In order to raise awareness on their daily commitment was created the website www.socialjesuitas.es. At present, the social sector of Jesuits in Spain, consisting of 20 bodies with over 50 seats, supported by 2500 people, 80% of whom volunteers workers, benefits with its services over one million people in Spain and other world continents. The field of migration is centred on the Jesuit Service for Migrants in Spain, a network of organizations dedicated to accompaniment, service and protection of migrants. Its offices are located in Alicante, Barcelona, Bilbao, Burgos, Madrid, Seville, Valladolid, Valencia. The sector dedicated to children encompasses institutions of various nature such as educational initiatives in the free time or support to study carried out through the parishes, reception centres, schools, that become opportunities for the children who were left out of the ordinary school system; support programs for families at exclusion-risk; job placement projects. The work is carried out in Alicante, Badalona, Gijón, L’Hospitalet, Madrid and Mallorca. Poland: Poznan, Lent in solidarity with Africa The volunteer workers of the Franciscan diaconia of Poznan (Poland) have launched a special initiative for Lent to help poor Countries in Africa. The project envisages the collection of offerings in exchange for bags of rice with 100 grams of this cereal, which is often the only source of nutrition of these indigent populations. The bags that contain the rice, sewn with offcuts by the same volunteers with the patients of one of the centres for the mentally disabled, are distributed throughout dioceses. Offerings will be used to purchase foodstuffs for the inhabitants of the poorest villages in the capital of Kenya, Nairobi, where the Franciscan missionaries work. In addition to encourage money donations, the initiative invites to fasting and prayer “in support of the poor, hungry and suffering ones”.
