CCEE: European meeting of academics On July 9 the ministers of University Education, Research and Foreign Affairs along with European university students, will convene for the meeting on “The youth and hope in Europe”, and on “The Youth and intellectual charity”, promoted by CCEE, the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, in conjunction with the Office for the Pastoral Care of Universities of Rome’s Vicarage. Msgr. Jean-Louis Bruguès, Segretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, will preside over the opening Mass celebrated in the Basilica of St. John Lateran. On the agenda of July 10 figures the pilgrimage to the Cross of the world youth Days, while July 11 will be marked by the Mass in Saint Peter’s, officiated by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, followed by the audience with Pope Benedict XVI. On July 6-8 the youth are expected in the university cities of Milan, Padua, Venice, Bologna, Perugia and in other cities where meetings with the chaplainships are scheduled. This initiative will provide young students with an initial approach to Italy’s academic environment under the guidance of CEI’s national office for school and university education. Portugal: new social and charitable pastoral careOn the occasion of the Pastoral Days organized by the Bishops’ Conference (CEP), Portuguese bishops gathered in Fatima June 15-18 to delve into the economic and financial crisis and define intervention lines ensuing the debate on the subject of “Social and Charitable pastoral care, new problems and new lines of action”. The meeting will be attended by two delegates from each diocese “in charge of social pastoral care”, by professors from the Catholic University and by numerous personalities such as Father Jacques Turck, Secretary of the Commission for Social Affairs of the French Bishops’ Conference. In the press statement CEP spokesman Fr. Manuel Morujão, made known that “the Portuguese Church, in the yearning of closely following social developments through the activity of the various socio-charitable groups in parishes and dioceses, is determined to identify new forms of response to the increasing requests for help coming from families in difficulty”. In the attempt of giving continuity to the ideas emerged from the symposium “Reinventing solidarity (in a moment of crisis)”, held past May 15, “Portuguese bishops wish to involve all the communities in their reflection in order to identify concrete support responses that will meet the needs of those in dire poverty”, declared CEP Secretary. “The wish of all those involved in pastoral initiatives is to trigger ideas and proposals, confiding in the closeness and response-capacity of parish groups. We ought to recover the very significance of the word ‘parish’, strictly bound to the concept of proximity and solidarity”.Ireland: “who is my neighbour?”A few days ago the archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin presented the document “Who is my neighbour?”, drawn up by the Commission for Justice and Social Affairs of the Irish Bishops’ Conference. The document is based on the articles presented during a conference – bearing the same name of the publication – organized by the same Commission February 18 2008. The first Encyclical of Benedict XVI, “Deus Caritas Est”, provided the topic of the meeting where a group of experts representing different dimensions of Irish life responded to the encyclical and to the apparently simple – albeit embarrassing – question “Who is my neighbour?”. The volume was drawn up for the Commission by Rev. Eoin Cassidy, dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at the “Mater Dei Institute”, within the “Dublin City University” and President of the sub-Commission for Justice and Social Affairs. During the book presentation Rev. Cassidy underlined the topical relevance of the encyclical of Benedict XVI, which highlights the need to modify the excesses of capitalism, in the framework of the ongoing world financial downturn. “The encyclical proposes a vision of solidarity which alone can lead to the transformation of society that the ongoing crisis demands”, Cassidy said.
