CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Spain: aid to sick persons and suffering humanity “The time spent near a sick person is a sacred time.” The campaign of the sick in the Spanish Church includes the celebration of the World Day of Sick Persons (held February 11) and the celebration of the Easter of the sick in the 6th Easter Sunday (May 10). The same theme unites the World Day Campaign to Easter time. In 2015 it is “Health and wisdom of the heart.” “The theme is aimed at making us discover that in our time” in which counts only what “shines” and what is superficial, the wisdom of the heart consists in recovering our glance on the suffering with a contemplative attitude – states a note. To the central theme of the campaign the national group of experts has decided to add the slogan: “Another glance is possible with a new heart.” “The glance of God and His Son on the sick person and on those who suffer is a glance that is different from that of society in general. It’s glance that stems from a new heart that envisages a change in attitudes that also transform our hearts.”The Netherlands: a pilgrimage of religious in Lourdes Among the initiatives in the framework of the Year of Consecrated Life, the Bishops’ Conference of The Netherlands has published an invitation to all Dutch religious to participate in a pilgrimage to Lourdes (next September 6 to 11). Bishop Jan van Burgsteden, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam, contact person for the religious at the Bishops’ Conference, will accompany participants. The bishop himself is a religious of the family of the Fathers of the Blessed Sacrament. The pilgrimage is organized by the “Stichting Organisatie Limburgse Bedevaarten in Maastricht”, a body recognised by the Bishops’ Conference which annually coordinates over 90 pilgrimages to the Marian French town, attended by several thousand Dutch pilgrims.Portugal: diocese of Oporto, the “joy of the Gospel” The bishop of Oporto has presented a pastoral document which illustrates a “Diocesan journey” focused on the theme: “Open your door to the joy of the Gospel.” “We are all invited to live Lent and Easter fully, so that the joy that thrives in our soul may find the strength to come to the fore, enthral and bring the Gospel to our neighbour”, wrote Msgr. António Francisco dos Santos. The guide to the 14-week journey, proposes “the image of the door”, which, in the language of faith, “is a symbol in which Jesus is identified”; in this way, it stops being an object to represent “the boatman, who allows people to move from one bank to the other.” The door becomes “a space of transition between two realities,” which suggests “an invitation to movement” that constitutes “an opening to others,” and a call to the Church to be “a community of missionary disciples.” Mons. Francisco dos Santos reveals that the “Walk of Lent-Easter” is inspired by the Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium” by Pope Francis, and is integrated into the dynamic ministry of the diocese for the current year, built around the theme: “the joy of the Gospel is our mission.” Czech Republic: free “pocket Gospel” “You receive for free, to give for free.” With these Biblical words the Paoline sisters in the Czech Republic have launched the project of the “Pocket Gospel”, aimed at the promotion of the Holy Scripture and of its content among those who are in need and those who are searching. Thanks to the collection of Advent of the Community in Prague of the Daughters of Saint Paul, a free pocket version of the Bible will be given to all those who cannot afford to buy one because of poverty or to those who are still seeking a meaning to life, but do not intend to invest money in the purchase of the Holy Scripture. In this way, the Pauline sisters have tried to put into practice the words of Pope Francis, who said that everyone has the right to receive the Gospel, and that Christians have the duty to proclaim it without excluding anyone. The books will be distributed during the Days of Faith, and if the project is successful, the Daughters of Saint Paul will seek ways to extend it also to other opportunities. Slovakia: the next challenges for youth communities “A year characterised by many events for young people who have shown their great potential, creativity and talent of the youths:” this is how the Association of Communities of Christian youths describe 2014. In addition to an evaluation of the past twelve months, the national council discussed the challenges and the strategies to be applied in 2015, with an emphasis on the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the Association. The coordinators of regional communities have convened to apply a new media strategy titled Inpromo, that consists in various media activities aimed at promoting the values of labour of the Association with young people. Its president, Jan Buc, encourages the members to “determination and responsibility” in order to improve their service to young people across Slovakia. In 2015 association energies will be devoted to spiritual formation and informal education of their members through schools for animators. The other projects include the campaign “Adopt a politician” and the evangelization project “Godzone”.
