Portugal: working towards new vocations Celebrations for the 46th Week of prayer for vocations, due to be held April 26-May 3rd, opened in Portugal on the background of the drop in the number of priestly ordinations, as emerges in the 2009 edition of the Guide to the Lusitanian Church. In the years 2000 – 2006 the number of priests dropped from 3159 to 2894 (-8,4%), while the number of religious clergy stayed the same. In commenting on the figures, Msgr. Antonio Francisco dos Santos, bishop of the city of Aveiro and President of the Bishops’ Commission for vocations and priestly ministry, declared: “the Portuguese Church, used to crowded seminaries and developing religious institutions, finds it hard to adapt to this new situation and to acknowledge a different state of things.” “However, – he added – while it’s true that there aren’t enough priests to serve all the parishes, the increase in other vocations, whose role has yet to be defined, ought to be duly considered. In fact, there are married men and women who direct Catholic communities along with the figure of the permanent deacon”. The idea that a better management of the disposition and capacities of the faithful can lead to new vocations is shared also by the vice-President of Portugal’s Bishops’ Conference (CEP) Msgr- Antonio Marto, who said, “the time of the autonomous parish and priest has come to an end. Christian communities ought to be reorganised on the basis of a pastoral approach that will integrate the different parties (people, groups and movements) and ministries in a common project, enhancing all human sensitivities and talents”. Czech Republic: the Child Jesus of Prague On April 30 (ongoing until May 3rd) celebrations for the feast of the Child Jesus will open in Prague. The tradition dates back to 1651 when the statue was carried in procession from the church of Our Lady of Victory to all the city’s churches, on this occasion it was called “miraculous”. In 1655, the then Bishop of Prague solemnly placed on the head of the Child Saint a golden crown, put together by religious nobleman Bernardo Ignazio di Martinic. This year’s crowning triduum will commence April 30 with a Mass celebrated in Malà Strana church, followed by a moment of adoration. The same programme is scheduled for May 1st, while the next day the exposition of the statue will take place. Celebrations will be officiated in different languages, while the final celebration is due to be held May third with the solemn ceremony for the crowning of the statue. The original statue is 47cm. tall, protected by a metal silver-coated cylinder up to the waist. The inner part of the statue is most probably made of wood, covered with fabric visible beneath the wax. The statue has always been covered with hand-made clothes, and lace collars were placed around the neck. It has two crowns. The original crown dates back to 1767 and the second was made in the years 1810-1820. Its wardrobe consists in one hundred garments, the oldest ones date back to 1700, like the one woven by the Empress of Austria Maria Teresa. Belgium: a colloquium on humour and religions Humour, religion and the media: the exhibition of comic strips held in Louvain-la-neuve in conjunction with the Colloquium on religion and humour, organised by the Catholic University of Louvain on April 30, will close on May 3rd.. “Do religions have a sense of humour? Is it possible to laugh about religion?” Communication experts, sociologists and theologians like Frédéric Antoine and Arnaud Join-Lambert will seek to respond to such questions. In the face of ever more frequent media chocks, which are also linked to the relationship between humour and religion, panellists will try to retie the strings of a possible reconciliation. The comic strip exhibit displays the works of some of the Country’s most renowned caricaturists such as Kroll, Clou, Cécile Bertrand, Kanar. Cardinal Godfried Danneels will deliver the opening speech on “Humour in religions and humour on religions”.
