The 6th Congress of the Pontifical Missionary Childhood (POIM) for the countries of the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe was held in Dubrovnik from 12 to 15 November, as reported by the Fides international press agency. The congress was opened with a mass officiated by Monsignor Slobodan Stambuk, head of the episcopal Commission for missions in Croatia. In his homily he spoke in memory of St. Jehosaphat, whom he called a “ravisher of souls”, alluding to the power of mission that must win over souls to Christ. The contributions to missionary childhood in the countries represented at the congress were various. Jean Lazarus presented the activities of the “Song of the Three Kings”, according to the model of missionary childhood in Belgium, while Father Anastasio Garcia tackled the fundamental question of the missionary spirit in catechesis. He clearly described how the faith of children should develop, explaining that the missionary spirit of childhood is not a special process, but the young Church herself in pilgrimage. The Czech Republic presented Children’s Day and widened the theme to all the activities of missionary childhood that embrace the Christian community as a whole. The report of the representative from Malta underlined work in schools, in parishes, both with children and with teachers. Poland is unique in the specifically religious character it gives to the contents of missionary animation, which follows children in all the manifestations of their religious life, from the sacraments to their recreational activities. Lebanon described the efforts to reach out to all the various religious confessions and especially to transcend the tragic situation of the country by helping to give hope in a difficult context. Slovakia, lastly, presented various aids for the animation of children and their families, underlining the importance of missionary animation in schools.
