“Believing in God, and following Jesus Christ is no longer so obvious in our time: nonetheless, in a city like Brussels many men and women are living a life inspired by their faith” and “are getting mobilised in the week of All Saints 2006 to show whom they are, what they do and especially in whom they believe and express their own hope”: that’s how the archbishop of the Belgian capital, Cardinal Godfried Daneels, appealed to youth in his diocese on the eve of the “International Congress for the new evangelization” with the motto “Come and see”, urging them to “profit from this occasion to come and see. “Many young people before you took a step in this direction – the cardinal said – and that’s why I exhort you: come and see”. After Vienna, Paris and Lisbon, it is now Brussels’ turn to host the international congress for the new evangelization from 29 October to 5 November. The event in Brussels is the fourth “civic mission” in Europe, the initiative of the then archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, together with the archbishops of Vienna and Brussels, Cardinals Cristoph Schönborn and Daneels, the Patriarch of Lisbon Josè Policarpo and Cardinal Peter Erdö, archbishop of Budapest, where the next civic mission will be held in 2007. “The Church’s intention – explain the promoters – is not to commandeer life in the city. The Church has no hidden political or economic agenda; she wishes to bear witness to the indispensable values of the humanization of life by making her own contribution to their realization”. The events being planned in Brussels comprise some 600 round tables, celebrations, moments of prayer and adoration, art exhibitions, concerts and guided tours. A section of the programme is dedicated to youth. The Congress will be opened on Sunday 29 October with a solemn mass presided over by Cardinal Daneels in the cathedral of Saint Michel at 10.00 am. Each morning the basilica of Koekelberg will host a “great witness”, including the Italians Andrea Riccardi and Enzo Bianchi, the British Timothy Radcliffe and the Swiss Nicolas Buttet. For further information: www.venezetvoyez.be.
