Seven weeks without…” “

As Lent approaches, initiatives in the various European countries are being stepped up, in line with John Paul II’s appeal in his message for Lent, which dedicates particular attention to children and their condition. The Pope recalls that “Jesus had a particular love for children”, and alongside them set the “very least of our brethren”, the suffering, the needy, the hungry and thirsty, strangers, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned”. Fasting, renunciation and prayer are the common denominators of the Lenten campaigns – some of them unusual – being promoted in many dioceses through study seminars, spiritual exercises, moments of sharing and reflection. Nor is there any lack of ecumenical events. Germany “Give us this day our daily bread”: that’s the slogan chosen by Misereor, the German aid organization that promotes self-help programmes in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania; the aim of its Lenten campaign is to emphasize the fundamental right to food. Each year, Misereor promotes a Lenten campaign involving fasting; this year’s will be inaugurated in the archbishopric of Bamberg in Bavaria. Its launch is scheduled for the weekend of 27/29 February. “With its fasting campaign, Misereor is bringing the aspiration of the poor into Catholic parishes and to the eyes of public opinion”, says the press release presenting the initiative. “Fasting enables us to acquire new prospects for our own life, opens our own heart to the needs of others, and revives our own willingness to show solidarity with others”. The proceeds of the donations collected in German dioceses on the Sunday preceding Easter are traditionally allocated to Misereor. The German Evangelics are due to inaugurate their own Lenten campaign on 25 February, Ash Wednesday. Called “Seven Weeks Without”, and devoted to fasting and the Passion, it was founded 21 years ago, the brainchild of a group of Protestant journalists and theologians. This year’s campaign is expected to involve the participation of over two million people, who will undertake to renounce something with the aim of a “conscientious organization of the period of the Passion”. “Prayer and fasting for 40 days” is the name of another Lenten campaign, this one ecumenical, involving 40 Christian organizations belonging to the Catholic, Evangelic and free Protestant Churches, which together form a “grand coalition of prayer”. “The campaign” – says its presentation – “is aimed at reinforcing common prayer in Germany and for Germany”. “Each day, united with many Christians throughout the country, we want to pray for a particular aspect of society and – if possible – emphasize our prayer through a specific exercise of renunciation and fasting”, explain the organizers. “Forty prayer intentions have been drawn up for each week, gathered by groups of topics, in such a way as to make possible a weekly collective prayer, alongside our everyday individual prayer”. “Take the prayer intentions as a stimulus for your prayers and pray not only for the intentions at the national level, but also for the specific social situations of your area, your city or your province”, participants are exhorted. The campaign will be inaugurated at Frankfurt on 2 March with an ecumenical service, attended among others by Fr. Hans Weyer, director of the apostolate of prayer in Germany, one of the organizations supporting the initiative. The first 50,000 pamphlets containing the prayer intentions – on themes ranging from unemployment to health, from politics to education and scientific research – have already been exhausted. Other Lenten initiatives make use of the technologies closest to young people. They include the one being promoted by the bishopric of Essen, which will begin on 25 February and involve the sending of daily SMS messages to the mobile phones of subscribers on themes raised by the Gospel reading of the previous Sunday. Austria Strengthened by the huge success of last year’s collection – 2.4 million euros – the Lenten action called “Family Day of Fasting”, promoted by the Catholic Women’s Movement, will be inaugurated in the Tyrol and Voralberg on 25 February. “Sharing multiplies” is the slogan of the anti-famine campaign now in its 40th year. It is dedicated in particular to projects aimed at enabling women to enjoy their right to “subsistence, education, employment, sources of income, independence and human dignity”. The Family Day of Fasting is traditionally celebrated on the second Friday of Lent, and the collections on the following Sunday are allocated to projects promoted by the campaign, even though the practice of paying all the money collected during the whole Lenten period directly to the organization is increasingly spreading. As far as initiatives aimed at youth are concerned, Caritas Austria and the Catholic youth organization of the Steiermark have prepared various events. They include the initiative “Why not?”, focused in particular on the problems of poverty, the being a foreigner in Austria, situations of emergency and aid to foreign countries. Albania “We would like Lent to become an occasion of growth of the community dimension and also of gaining a heightened awareness of our social reality”: that’s how Father Raffaele Gagliardi, parish priest of two Albanian parishes, one at Guri Izi (“Sacred Heart”) and the other at Rrenc (Saints Simon and Jude), both in the diocese of Scutari, describes the period of preparation for Easter. “During the weeks of Lent – he explains – we will hold Stations of the Cross in the various villages of the parishes. We will go from house to house, with Christian symbols, songs and prayers. Last year’s experience showed that the young in particular appreciate this unique contact. It’s a way of opening people’s eyes to the great poverty that is still present in our country”. Among the many forms of “poverty” encountered during the Stations of the Cross last year, Father Gagliardi recalls the touching meeting with two handicapped boys of Moslem faith, who were moved by the attention paid to them. With the little we have, last year we were able to give help to many families by offering them flour and other basic foodstuffs”. Italy In preparation for Lent and for Easter, the Catholic communities of Byzantine rite of the Eparchy of Lungro, in Calabria, two weeks before the start of the “Great and Holy period of Lent”, celebrate a week dedicated to the commemoration of the dead, that ends on the Saturday eleven days before Ash Wednesday, i.e. the Saturday of the souls of Purgatory. Candles and olive oil lamps are lit in homes. On 14 February, a procession to the cemeteries, chanting hymns in Albanian and in Greek, is held in all towns and villages of the Eparchy, after the celebration of the liturgy in church. It is followed by a mass for the dead (Trisaghion) and then by the blessing of the tombs. It is also the tradition, during the same week, to celebrate a requiem mass for the souls of those who have recently died and, in the ceremony of the panagia, to bless the bread made with boiled wheat – symbol of the human body destined to be reborn to the new life. In some villages the wheat is boiled on the Thursday of the week dedicated to the dead and then distributed to the poor and needy. Portugal Helping the means of social communication and contributing to the building of new churches in Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa: these are the objectives of a Lenten fund-collecting campaign in the diocese of Aveiro, Portugal. A part of the collection will help fund new media, “of fundamental importance in the pastoral mission and in the formation of Christians, especially those scattered in distant lands”. Another part of the collection will serve to fund the construction or reconstruction of churches in the most destitute parishes of African countries. “The demographic explosion of these countries and the growth of their population makes the existing churches insufficient. Others, situated in small villages, are old and dilapidated and in need of repairs. Spain Forgiving is not an innate act: it needs to be learned: that’s the conviction of the Paul VI Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation, which has established a workshop in Salamanca for “Learning to forgive”, held in the week preceding the beginning of Lent, traditionally a time of “forgiveness and reconciliation”. More than theory, the participants learn techniques for conflict resolution in a Christian key. The programme teaches how to “understand the meaning of the mystery of forgiveness” with “exercises to be practiced at home and a sharing of the results with the other participants”. The idea is that other groups may be established that will apply the same method of forgiveness. The Paul VI Centre was founded three years ago to sensitize the population to the importance of reconciliation and the dialogue between faith and culture. The course is held in the Ateneo in Salamanca, a private institution established in 1875 to promote culture and spirituality.