Belgium: the visit of bishops in China came to an end”The exclusively pastoral” visit of a delegation of the Belgian Catholic Church led by Cardinal Godfried Danneels, archbishop of Malines-Bruxelles, to the local Churches of Beijing and the provinces of Liaoning, Hebei and Shaanxi ended. The visit was part of “an exchange programme between Churches in Belgium and China”. The eleven delegates, including Cardinals, bishops and other personalities, arrived in Beijing on March 31st and visited the Catholic majority village of Laohugou in the diocese of Chengde. The group was accompanied by father Joseph Guo Jincai, from the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. Father Guo, interviewed by the Catholic Agency Ucanews, said that the Belgian delegation was invited by the chairpersons of Beijing’s national seminary where it received a warm welcome from the Catholics of Laohugou. Ucanews refers that Cardinal Danneels expressed to Chinese faithful the unity of all Catholics in the universal Church headed by the Pope. The archbishop of Brussels had previously visited China in 2005. Cardinal Danneels met the seminarists of Beijing and a number of bishops and priests. France: a Mass for Msgr. RahhoThe Caldean community in France expressed its “deep concern for the present situation in Iraq and especially for the recent and painful death of Msgr. Faraj Rahho”. On Sunday April 13 the Community has celebrated a Mass following the Caldean liturgy in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris to “share appreciation for Christians in France who manifested their solidarity in these difficult moments”. The Mass has been officiated by Msgr. Antonio Audo, Caldean archbishop of Aleppo, Syria, to the presence of Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris and of the ordinary of Catholics of Eastern rite in France. After the murder in Baghdad of Syriac orthodox priest on April 5, father Yousif Abel and Msgr. Stenger, President of France’s Pax Christi, issued a statement requesting the establishment of an international commission with the task of finding the culprits of these crimes and protecting the Christians who are still living in the Country. Austria: everyone’s right to education"Education is a human right and nobody can be left out". The objective being "a form of education which is open to everyone: to children with and without disabilities and to children from different cultural backgrounds, Countries of origin, religion or social class". The statement was issued during a press conference in Wien on April 10 within the framework of the international conference "Europe in Action: education for everyone", by “Lebenshilfe Österreich”, an Austrian organization which defends the interests of disabled people. The right to common lessons currently ends with compulsory schooling. For this reason, each year in Austria some 2 000 students are compelled to change school. Germain Weber, Viennese psychologist and President of the association, underlined that also the UN Convention for disabled people, which will become effective next May 3rd, and whose art.24 clearly established the right to education, necessitates changes as relates to school education. "Lebenshilfe Österreich" (www.lebenshilfe.at) is Austria’s major organization for mentally disabled people. For the past 40 years it has been working for the integration of disabled people within the social and political environments. Since the 1990s, Lebeshilfe has been organizing conferences enabling the disabled to express their own problems and needs in different areas. Switzerland: a "night in the convent" "The night of the convents". This initiative, which reached its third edition, this year was held on April 11-12. A number of convents opened their doors to allow guests to learn more about monastery life, prayers, meditation and mutual dialogue. The initiative is especially directed to the youth and is strictly linked to the Sundays for priestly and religious vocations. It was held for the first time in 2006, and was repeated this year for "the positive experiences which encouraged religious communities to renew this appointment".
