Germany: bishops in South Korea A few days ago a delegation of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) led by Msgr. Ludwig Schick, President of DBK Universal Church Commission, left for South Korea to learn more on Pastoral care in Asia. The bishops plan to focus on “Small Christian Communities” – representing faithful who wish to develop their spiritual lives, expand Catholic communities and promote social work – that are widely present in Asia. The German Bishops, along with Bishops from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, the Philippines and South Korea, will attend a seminary on this reality, which Msgr. Schick described as “a remarkable realisation of Universal Church community”. 50 small Christian communities are present also in a number of German dioceses. These groups came into being 40 years ago on the initiative of the Bishops’ Conferences of East and South Africa. Msgr. Johannes Bündgens, auxiliary bishop of Aquisgrana; Msgr. Hans-Jochen Jaschke (Hamburg), Msgr. Gerhard Pieschl (Limburg), Msgr. Thomas Maria Renz (Rottenburg-Stuttgart) and Msgr. Ludger Schepets (Essen), along with Aquisgrana Missio chapter chairman Klaus Krämer form part of the delegation that left past April 13. During the visits to the South-Korean dioceses of Suwon and Jeju, Msgr. Schick valued the spiritual life and the organization of the Catholic Church in South Korea, which has been steadily increasing over the past years. In fact, out of 49 million inhabitants, 30% are Christians, 10% of whom are Catholics. United Kingdom: social doctrine and Catholic physicians”What is the role of Catholic physicians in British hospitals? Can the Catholic social doctrine help the national health service overcome the ongoing revolution? How does a faith-based approach differ from a lay approach? Is it possible to establish alliances with faithful from other religious denominations inside the hospitals?” These are the questions addressed by Catholic physicians during a meeting devoted to the theme of vocations organized by the “Catholic Medical Association Uk” in Bristol on April 25-26. Participants included physicians, nurses, politicians, managers, nationally renown personalities like the Baroness Cumberlege, member of the Conservative party and Sheila Cassidy, ex-political prisoner in Chile and expert in palliative treatments. Britain’s Catholic physicians’ association was set up in 1911 and reached a record-breaking 1000 members in the 1980s. Three years ago a group of physicians, nurses and managers relaunched the association in Bristol and gave it its current name. According to Phil McCarthy, who dedicated an article for the catholic weekly “Tablet” to the issue, in this moment the most important challenge for the “Catholic Medical Association” is to show that Catholicism and professional life go hand in hand and mutually integrate, thus reaching out to those Catholic physicians who have drifted apart claiming they don’t share Church teaching in the fields of bioethics and contraception. Cathedral night in four dioceses “Implementing a Church project across diocesan and national borders; showing that culture and spirituality are part and parcel of the foundations of common life in increasingly unified Europe. Indeed cathedrals – which are simultaneously religious, historical and cultural monuments – best represent this presence in the public realm. Hence the dioceses of Liège, Luxembourg, Metz and Treviri have instituted the “Cathedral Night”, which will be celebrated Saturday May 2 for the third year running. For this occasion the cathedrals in the four cities will remain open until midnight (in Treviri until 6:00 a.m. on Sunday) and concerts, exhibitions, conferences, performances, guided tours as well as meditations, prayers and moments of silence will be staged in its premises. “A spiritual and cultural program”, the organizers explained, since no other place “represents the memories of the past generations, along with the desires and hopes of the present generations” better than cathedrals. A working group will follow the preparations and implementation of the program in every cathedral according to the specific needs of the diocese involved in project. “The Cathedrals Night is meant to convey unity as well as cultural and spiritual diversity”, the organizers declared. In Liège the event will open at 5:45 p.m. with a carillon concert followed by organ concerts and moments of prayer. While a “creative workshop” for children will inaugurate the initiative in Luxembourg, marked by a conference on the passage from the late-gothic period to the Renaissance, and by the show “Madonna Mystica” which combines “mysticism and pop music”, the organizers explained.
