An open house

Apart from marriage, the family and ecumenism, other issues including the Church in Europe, cooperation with Africa, communications and the world of prisons were debated during the plenary assembly of the CCEE (Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe) held in Fatima (Portugal) from 3 to 7 October, marking the 90th anniversary of the apparitions. During the session, the Presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences listened to the requests of the archdiocese of the Principality of Monaco (France) and of the only Catholic diocese in the Republic of Moldavia, Chisinau, to join the CCEE, which will thus be enlarged to 36 members. The next plenary will be held in Budapest (Hungary) from 30 September to 3 October 2008. CHURCH IN EUROPE. “The European home must be supported on principles capable of strengthening it, illuminating it and giving it a soul”, said the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, GIOVANNI BATTISTA RE , lamenting “the many problems that afflict Europe and that won’t find a solution unless God is re-introduced to the life of the continent, and unless we work for a religious revival, for a more solid Christian formation of consciences, and for the full recovery of the cultural dimension of the faith”. The Prefect urged the bishops to harmonise their national initiatives to make the pastoral action of the Churches more incisive in Europe “in terms of the safeguard of the human and Christian values that forged the continent and that remain its roots. This is not the time for discouragement! This – he concluded – is the time for commitment!”. “O Mary, our Blessed Mother, keep watch over the Church in Europe… Mother of the Church, pray for Europe as a whole, pray for us”: that’s the beginning and end of the prayer read by the Hungarian President of the CCEE, Cardinal PETER ERDÖ , together with the other Presidents, at the end of the recitation of the Rosary on 6 October, during the act of entrusting the continent and its inhabitants to the Virgin Mary. Bishop Adrianus van Luyn and Monsignor Noël Treanor, respectively President and Secretary of COMECE (Commission of the episcopates of the European Community), presented a report on the European institutions, the process of unification, and the commitment of their organization in the field of EU policies, in particular in that of research and bioethics. CHURCH IN AFRICA. “Europe has no future unless it assumes a planetary responsibility”, declared the European bishops at Fatima. “Too many peoples live in the tragedies of violence, hunger, injustice, deprivation of freedom and forced emigration”. The European bishops thus intend to continue with the bishops of Africa, following their joint symposium in November 2004, “the development of their common responsibility for the evangelization and human promotion of their respective continents”. During the plenary, the programme for the next CCEE-SECAM (Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar) meeting was presented. It will be held in Ghana at Cape Coast (13-18 November 2007), on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the end of slavery in Africa. Theme of the meeting: “Slavery and the new slaveries”. PRISONS AND MIGRATION . The CCEE Presidents met the leaders of the ICCPPC (International Commission for Catholic Prison Pastoral Care), who briefed them about their activities and gave them some statistics about the global and European situation of prisons. Over 9 million people are in prison in the world today, almost half of them in the USA, China and Russia. In Europe, the average is some 100 prison inmates for each 100,000 inhabitants, with an average of 80 in the countries of the Southern Europe, while in Central and Eastern Europe that average rises to 180; the percentages are increasing. The number of foreigners being incarcerated in Central and Eastern Europe is also increasing; in some countries almost half of the prison population is foreign. Another problem debated at Fatima was that of immigration and “the need to work increasingly” to alleviate it. The problem of so-called ‘illegal’ immigrants is a cause for deep concern. The Church has an important role to play in drawing attention to the plight of these people and in denouncing the abuses committed against them”. MEDIA AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. The plenary assembly of the CEEM (European Episcopal Committee for the Media) on “The culture of the web” will be held in 2009. The aim of the meeting is to “analyse the effects of the web in our society and in the life of the Church; the way in which Christians intervene in the web and the use of this medium in ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue”. On the front of Catholic religious education in Europe, the CCEE is involved in a wide-ranging research project in collaboration with the Italian Bishops’ Conference, whose results will be presented in Rome from 28 to 30 November. A European meeting of European university students is also being planned, again in Rome, from 27 July to 2 August 2009.