Living in clandestinity ” “

The German bishops, meeting for their traditional autumn assembly from 20-23 September, discussed the question of “mission”, convinced of the need to widen its fundamental concepts. But this month the German Catholic Church is also the protagonist of other initiatives: in particular, it has renewed its commitment to clandestine immigrants, with the Forum “Life in clandestinity”. Nor does it ignore the educational task of the media: it has awarded the Catholic media prize to works that speak of clandestine immigrants and suffering. REDISCOVERY OF MISSION. The autumn plenary assembly of the German Bishops’ Conference ended in Fulda on 23 September. At the centre of the discussions was a review of universal mission, especially expressed in the form of a document drafted by the bishops. To raise the awareness of public opinion on the question, and to mark the 1250th anniversary of the death of St. Boniface, a joint pastoral letter will be issued, with the title “The missionary task of the Church”. In his opening address, the president of the Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal KARL LEHMANN, described the origin and significance of the missionary activity of the Catholic Church in its various forms. The other points on the order of the day also included WYD in Cologne in 2005, current issues of bioethics, the directives on the standards of teaching Catholic religion in secondary schools, and the transmission of the faith in our society (to which is dedicated a document of the bishops with the title “Catechesis in changing times”). The bishops also presented the text “Favouring integration – giving form to life together, which contains the position of the German bishops in the debate on the integration of immigrants. ON THE SIDE OF CLANDESTINE IMMIGRANTS. It is estimated that a million or so people are living as clandestine immigrants in Germany. With a view to raising the awareness of public opinion about the problems of people living without residence permits and helping to promote suitable solutions in the political world, German Caritas (DCV), the German knights of the Order of Malta and the service of the Jesuits for refugees (JRS), on the initiative of the Commission for immigration of the German Bishops’ Conference, have combined their forces in the CATHOLIC FORUM “LIFE IN CLANDESTINITY”. The Forum, which will be presented officially during a press conference in Berlin on 28 September, aims – in the words of its organizers – to “heighten awareness in the social and political world about the problems of clandestine immigrants. Its task is to actively intervening with the political and administrative authorities to ensure respect for the humanitarian needs and fundamental social rights (medical assistance, schooling for children and defence of workers’ rights) of clandestine immigrants, and to campaign for the legalization of aid to clandestine immigrants on humanitarian grounds”. The Forum also has the objective of realizing “a form of cooperation and organization founded on coordination with other social organizations”. The chairman of the Forum is auxiliary bishop Msgr. Josef Voß, who is also chairman of the Commission for immigration of the German Bishops’ Conference. The director of the Forum will be the Jesuit Jörg Alt, long involved in the JRS. CATHOLIC MEDIA PRIZE. Cardinal Karl Lehmann, president of the German Bishops’ Conference, will assign the awards of the Catholic Media Prize at a ceremony in Hamburg on 4 October. Now in its second year, the prize has the objective of “helping to motivate journalists to devote themselves in future to a journalism predicated on quality and values”, explains a press release presenting the event. The awards assigned to the category “printed press” and “electronic press”, consisting of two cash prizes each worth 5,000 euros, will be handed out during a reception to which some 200 guests from the ecclesiastical, political and media worlds have been invited. The participants will include the archbishop of Hamburg, Msgr. Werner Thissen. 115 entries have been received for the prize this year; the competitors sent in specimens of their work between 1st July 2003 and 15 June 2004. The winner of the “printed press” category is Ariel Hauptmeier for his reportage “We must remain outside”, dedicated to clandestine immigrants; the prize for the “electronic” category has been awarded to the author Tina Soliman and the cameraman Torsten Lapp, for the documentary “Terrible Joy – when birth and death coincide”, on the tragedy of those who have lost their own spouse during childbirth. According to the jury, composed of representatives of the Bishops’ Conference, association of German Catholic advertisers and association of the Catholic media, these works “promote Christian values and greater understanding for people and social contexts”.