The faces of welcome

“Tourism, a ‘transverse’ reality: pastoral aspects” was the title of the meeting of the National Directors for the Pastoral Care of Tourism in Europe held in recent days at the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People in Rome. It was attended by the delegates of 15 countries (Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland), and by representatives of some offices of the Roman Curia, the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (Ccee) and the Vicariate of Rome. “We Europeans must reassert our Christian roots and heritage, renewing them in the light of Vatican Council II, and study how to continue and animate a new evangelization. In this perspective tourism is undoubtedly a suitable means of giving impulse to these values”, said Cardinal RENATO RAFFAELE MARTINO , President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Council of Migrants and Itinerant People, on opening the meeting. A WEBSITE AND A CATECHISM. The organization of seminars for “ecclesial guides”, with the creation of a website relating to “pilgrimage ways” and “meditation routes” (http://www.pilgerwege.at) and “cooperation with the civil authorities in the field of the ethics of tourism”: these, in short, are the objectives of the pastoral care of tourism in AUSTRIA, as described by Father Joseph Farrugia. “A short catechism for tourists”, also containing the addresses of churches and priests, is the “project” of the archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev ( BELARUS ) presented by the apostolic administrator Monsignor Antoni Dziemianko, who pointed out that tourism is mainly youthful in the country. “Visits to churches – he observed – provide an opportunity to the priest to present a spiritual message; for many young people, who have never heard anyone speaking of God, it may be a first contact”. CYPRUS is characterized by a particular aspect, reported the patriarchal vicar Father Umberto Barato: “the significant number of marriages celebrated in the island, especially of couples from England, Scotland and Ireland”, because “economically convenient”. THE “SMILING CHRIST” . “In some regions we organize courses of religion for ski instructors and mountain guides”, explained Stephan Roth, chairman of the Commission for Tourism, Leisure Time and Pilgrimages in German-speaking SWITZERLAND and in Canton Ticino. “With Protestants – he added – a cooperative project is in progress to prepare a Christian welcome for fans on the occasion of the European football championships in 2008”. Nikolaus Roussos (GREECE) reported that “while several years ago tourism in the country was essentially Western, we are now witnessing a sizeable presence of visitors from Eastern Europe, including Orthodox believers and those of other religions”. In ITALY thought is being given to the introduction of a new role, that of “minister of welcome”, said Father Mario Lusek, of the National Office for the Pastoral Care of Tourism, while in LUXEMBOURG preparations are continuing for the “Pilgrimage of the Smiling Christ” due to be held in 2007, the year in which Luxembourg will be European capital of culture. In the country, explained Rosemarie Rohmer-Strecker, of the national Centre of Tourist Pastoral Care, “travel agencies are cooperating with the Church in the organization of spiritual itineraries and for the blessing of motorists and motorcyclists”. MEMORY OF VALUES . Stjepan Kusan, told the meeting that the Church of MACEDONIA “ intends to raise the awareness of the Orthodox Church about the problems of the meeting between cultures and the possible drug abuse and prostitution that accompanies the tourist phenomenon” with a view to “fruitful collaboration” between the Churches. Msgr. Edward Janiak, head of the episcopal Commission for Migrants, Tourism and Pilgrimages in POLAND, reported that “there is a priest responsible for the pastoral care of tourism in each diocese”, and that the most significant projects of the Church in this field include “spiritual retreats for tourist guides, held annually at the national level. This year 850 persons from all over Poland participated in the retreat, held at Czestochowa”. In SPAIN there are plans, during the next two years, to “promote regional meetings with the aim of tackling the real pastoral and human situations of visitors, professionals in the tourist sector and pastoral workers”, said Father Josep-Enric Parellada, Director of the Department of Tourism, Sanctuaries and Pilgrimages of the Bishops’ Conference. The “National Days” of the tourist apostolate, begun in 1964, have been confirmed. According to a survey conducted in dioceses in 2004, concluded Father Rui Manuel da Silva Pedro , secretary of the episcopal Commission for Human Mobility in PORTUGAL, “tourism in the country helps believers and non-believers to preserve the memory of the values and symbols of the Christian tradition of our people”.