CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Germany: bishops on the Synod and the media In Hildesheim is taking place the Spring plenary meeting of the German Bishops’ Conference (ongoing until February 26). All 66 members are attending under the presidency of cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich-Freising. During the assembly the prelates will address issues regarding the Bishops’ Synod due to take place in the Vatican next October, and will be carried out a selection of official delegates. Discussions will focus also on the inter-diocesan Synodal questionnaire. The Church, the media and social media will be at the centre of three sessions. Speeches will be delivered by Msgr. Paul Tighe, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications (Theological dimension of social media), Alexander Filipovic, from the faculty of Philosophy in Munich – “Social Media – classification and ethical perspective of the media”) and Ansgar Mayer, Computer Bild (“Phenomenon of social web”). Poland: spiritual support to 2 thousand missionaries Prayer, fasting, good intentions, participation in liturgy or charitable actions can be offered during the entire Lenten period in support of Polish missionaries which are 2.078 worldwide including priests, religious and lay people. The initiative “A missionary for Lent” collects increasing numbers of supporters. Almost 3 thousand people take part in the project promoted by major missionary magazines published in Poland under the auspices of the president of the bishops, Monsignor Stanislaw Gadecki. “As missionary, president of the Commission for the missions I encourage everyone to take part in this initiative”, said Monsignor Jerzy Mazur, from the Society of the Divine Word. “Participation in the project doesn’t require money but constant dedication”, remarked the coordinator of the project Aleksandra Retman, who added: “Not everyone can do missionary work but we call all offer spiritual support to the missionaries”. Portugal: law on “The Right to be born”, 48 thousand signatures The promoters of the draft law of popular initiative, called: “Law in support of motherhood and fatherhood – of the Right to be born”, have presented 48 thousand signatures at the European Parliament in support of discussion and voting of the document by MPs. The meeting with the president of the Assembly of the Republic Assunção Esteves, lasted approximately half an hour, after which the representatives of the initiative issued a press statement of clarification: “The goals of the proposal are the defense of the right to life, promoting support to families, maternity and paternity at professional and social level, helping pregnant women who risk undergoing abortions, and restoring dignity to the figure of the doctor conscientious objector, and finally, the recognition of the newborn child as a member of the family and of the community as a whole”, the document states. According to the promoters of the signature collection, begun past November without the patronage of political party, “the question is not to attack or review the outcome of the referendum of voluntary pregnancy interruption held in 2007, but to adopt a set of concrete measures in support of social benefits to procreation and protection of intra-uterine life”. In addition to 41 law Professors, also other personalities such as Isilda Pegado (lawyer and president of the Portuguese pro-life Federation) and Pedro Vaz Patto (president of the national Commission Justice and Peace), are members of the Commission that drew up the Draft Law. Already during its presentation, and “before the serious problem of low birth-rates”, the spokesperson of the Bishops’ Conference (CEP) had presented the “congratulations of the Portuguese bishops over the Right to Life initiative”. Belarus: invitation to pray for Ukraine Catholic bishops in Belarus addressed the faithful with several pastoral letters for Lent. Msgr. Antoni Dziemianko, bishop of Pinsk, invited them to identity their place inside the Church, thanking them for this gift, experimenting the presence of God and give testimony inside and outside the Church. Msgr. Aleksander Kaskiewicz, bishop of Grodno, highlighted three major “tools”: prayer, fasting, and alms. “Lent is a time of inner renewal, a time to overcome the temptation of indifference, of the heaviness of the heart and of egoism”. Msgr. Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, archbishop of Minsk-Mogilev, referred to the “threats” of the modern world, underlining that “modern economy and the culture of consumerism” try to elevate materialism and the prosperity beyond God, forgetting the virtues of humbleness. In addition to the single pastoral letters, Catholic bishops from Belarus have released a joint letter in which they recall the recent political meeting in Minsk and convey the hope that the conflict in Ukraine may end soon. “We invite all of you, brothers and sisters, to prayer for a very serious intention. We are asking for gestures of solidarity for the Ukrainian nation in this extremely difficult moment”, the bishops write, exhorting the faithful to fast for peace in Ukraine.
