Kosovo: pray for the good of the population”It is not up to the Church to support a political solution over another. What we have at heart is the good of the population, we pray for every decision to be taken for the sake of the people and for Serbians and Kosovaris to live together”. Mgr. Dode Gjergji, apostolic administrator of Kosovo, takes no position about the ballot in Serbia on February 3rd, when at the polls the Serbians will have to choose the new president of the Republic. A much-awaited vote, partly because, according to some analysts, it should come just before the EU’s recognition of the independence of Kosovo, which Belgrade still considers one of its provinces. “We pray – he states to SIR – for the Serbian people to be able to find hope in a future even without Kosovo. Because, if we cannot live together, at least we can live like good neighbours”. As to Kosovo’s possible independence, recognised by the EU, mgr. Gjergji says he “will not go into the heart of the matter nor will he support a solution over another. We are interested in these two peoples living in peace, whatever happens to Kosovo. The Church prays for the good of the country and for every decision to be taken for the common good. We cannot and we will not be against the will of the country. All we ask for is peace for this land”.Portugal: preeminence to the Social Doctrine of the Church In the guidelines of its five-year mandate, the new Diocesan Pastoral Council of Lisbon’s Patriarchate (Cpd) decided to converge its actions on the diffusion of the Social Doctrine of the Church (Dsi). The 2007-2008 Diocesan program, envisages “the preparation of literature on pastoral care for the faithful whose content, centered on the family, work, economic life, politics, international relations, the environment and peace will be developed to the light of the Social Doctrine.” Father Paulo Franco, director of the Patriarchate’s Secretariat for Pastoral Care, presented a report on the results of a diocese survey on the faithful’s approach to reading and meditating over the Word of God. “On the basis of 3839 interviews, 80% said they have a Bible, but only 50% read it regularly”. He pointed out that “the youth’s interest for the Word is accompanied by a yearning for in-depth analysis which must be fulfilled by Pastoral teaching”. As relates to commemorations of the Pauline Year, commencing next June 28, the auxiliary bishop of Lisbon, Msgr. Anacleto Oliveira informed the Council on the project called “A year on the footsteps of Saint Paul”, envisaging “the publication of 52 catecheses on the biography, the constituting elements of Christian life, of the mission and foundation of the Church, of moral conduct and eschatology, exclusively using the works of the Saint”. At the end of the meeting the Cardinal-Patriarch Msgr. José Policarpo announced that this year his Lent Catecheses “will probe into aspects related to the Word of God of which the Social Doctrine is the expression at the level of Church Magisterium”.Slovenia: the diocese of Maribor out of T-2″The archdiocese of Maribor was not aware of the company’s offer of pornographic channels. To the light of recent events, the diocese decided to sell its share and withdraw from partnership. This decision was taken on the basis of religious and ethical reasons”. With this statement to Sir, Father Andrej Saje, Secretary General and spokesperson of Slovenia’s Bishops Conference put an end to the T-2 communication service company (cable-tv, internet and telephone) issue. The company is one of the most widely-spread in Slovenia thanks to its competitive prices, but it offers also access to pornographic channels. The fact is that the archdiocese of Maribor figured amongst its shareholders “and not Slovenia’s Bishops Conference as some said”. Moreover, the archdiocese had planned to sell its shares already in December 2007, but it was implemented these past days, when the T-2 rejected the request of eliminating pornographic channels from its offer package. The shares will not be sold to local purchasers.
