Thoughts and projects” “

The Churches in response to the process of European reunification, the continent’s re-evangelization, the autumn sessions of the assemblies of bishops, ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, the ecclesial presence in the media: these are some of the issues that have most focused the attention of the European episcopal conferences in recent months. We present a summary of the most significant events in the life of various Churches. Albania. The 4th joint Forum of the Italian and Albanian Episcopal Conferences was held in Scutari in October. Theme of the Forum: “The communion between the two sister Churches during these last 10 years in the construction of the Albanian Church”. Central focus of the meeting: a review of the projects carried out and missions on the territory, and future prospects for collaboration and communion. Austria. The data of the census on the population carried out in 2001 were published in recent weeks. As regards confessional affiliation, out of approximately eight million inhabitants, 5,920,000 declare themselves Catholic (74% against 78% in 1991). One million Austrians do not profess any religion at all (12% against 8.6% in 1991); 4.7% declare they are members of the Evangelic Church, and 180,000 are members of the Orthodox Churches, inserted in the census for the first time. Belarus. Archbishop Ivan Jurkowicz, apostolic nuncio in Belarus, proclaimed 18 October the “Day of the Vatican”. On the same day, a celebration to present the work of John Paul II in favour of the Church and of the world was held in Minsk, in the presence of Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek, president of the Belarus Bishops’ Conference. Bosnia Herzegovina. The archbishop of Sarajevo, Cardinal Vinko Puljic, has received the international award for peace “Perdonanza celestinana”; the prize money was devolved by the cardinal to the reconstruction of the Catholic school in Travnik, closed under the Communist regime. A meeting between the presidents and general secretaries of the episcopal conferences of central Europe in preparation for the “Mitteleuropäisch Katholikentag” (Congress of the Catholics of Central Europe), due to open on 31 May 2003, was held in Sarajevo on 2-3 October. Bulgaria. The president of the Pontifical Council for the unity of Christians, Cardinal Walter Kasper, visited Bulgaria in October. He met with the Orthodox metropolitans and Patriarch Maxim. He also received an honorary degree in theology from the Orthodox University “S.Kliment Ohridski” in Sofia. Theme of Kasper’s prolusion: “Church as communion”. The Cardinal also presented the Orthodox Church with the Charta Oecumenica translated into Bulgarian. Croatia. On the basis of the accord between the Holy See and the Republic of Croatia on juridical questions, the Government and the Episcopal Conference signed a Protocol on the registration of the juridical persons of the national Catholic Church and an accord on the pastoral care of Catholics detained in prisons and reformatories for juveniles. Romania. Various issues were tackled by the Romanian bishops during their autumn assembly in Bucharest. They included: the Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae and liaison between the dioceses in the field of communication, in particular Internet. Slovakia. The Slovak bishops presented their “Pastoral Letter on European integration”, a document that examines the pros and cons of the process now underway and offers answers to the questions it poses and the issues it raises about the role of the Church.