Germany: financial crisis… an opportunity Seeing the current financial crisis as an opportunity for the reform of the global economic order: that’s the invitation of the German bishops, expressed during their plenary assembly held in Hamburg on 4 March. As reported by the German Catholic press agency KNA, the bishops called for the reinforcement of the social market economy and the introduction of internationally binding rules for financial services and markets. At the same time, the bishops appealed to politicians to take account of the interests of future generations and the developing countries in the realization of measures for the support of the economy. “A new separation of markets and a weakening of the fight against poverty and hunger cannot be the answer”, said Archbishop Reinhard Marx of Munich. Monsignor Marx, expert on social questions within the Bishops’ Conference, deplored the deregulation of financial markets and the “neo-liberal ideology”, which are responsible in his view for the crisis that has “destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives” and “driven thousands of people into hunger”. Monsignor Zollitsch, President of the Bishops’ Conference, called for a “normative system” for the regulation of the globalized economic system and “clearer rules for the responsibility and transparency of businesses”. “The responsibility of individuals and of the various interest groups must also be clearer”, added Zollitsch, recalling that “everything that is legally admissible is not ethically correct”. The President of the Bishops’ Conference defended the intervention of the State in support of banks and businesses. He made a point, however, of emphasizing that “support to businesses must not create distortions to competition, and it must also be clear that the businesses in question are in difficulty exclusively due to the crisis”. Switzerland: emergency spiritual assistanceEmergency spiritual and psychological assistance: this is the ecumenical initiative promoted by the Protestant and Catholic Churches in collaboration with the cantonal police. Its intended beneficiaries are those involved in tragic events. The service is conducted by “emergency support teams”, composed of some forty pastors, priests, deacons and pastoral workers who are alerted by the police in the event of tragedies or deaths. The service of spiritual assistance is provided 24 hours a day, with a waiting time of 30-45 minutes. The assistance is provided either individually or by more than one person, with the prior accord of those involved and is of two types: on the one hand, assisting victims, witnesses and family members who are experiencing potentially traumatizing situations; on the other, breaking the news of someone’s death to his/her family or loved ones. Assistance is given gratis; it is offered by the Churches in an ecumenical spirit and without any proselytizing intention. Those who provide the assistance are professionally trained in virtue of the ministry they exercise, to which is added a specific training in emergency counselling recognized by the Réseau national de Psychologie d’Urgence (RNAPU) or similar organization. They are also subjected to supervision. Some 200 interventions by the teams have been provided over the last two years: a sign that the service responds to a real need.England: 850 to receive baptism at EasterThis year 850 people will become Catholics in the diocese of Westminster at Easter. In recent days, the catechumens celebrated the so-called “Rite of election” in Westminster Cathedral in London, mother church of English Catholicism, a rite in which they are invited by their respective Bishops to prepare themselves for Baptism with prayer. Those who have already received Baptism are prepared for the sacrament of Confirmation. This year’s number of catechumens is a record, surpassing by at least a hundred the figure achieved in 2005. At the celebration, the catechumens and candidates were accompanied by their godfathers and godmothers, by catechists, friends and families from all over the diocese. The rite was officiated by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor and by Auxiliary Bishops John Arnold, Alan Hopes, Bernard Longley and George Stack. Anthony Curran, in charge of catechesis for the diocese of Westminster, has revealed that those to be received into the Catholic Church during the Easter Vigil this year include a family from Hertfordshire comprising a mother and her two sons aged twelve and five months. In some cases, as in that of a lady from North London, married to a Catholic for many years, with an eight-year-old daughter, it is the children who convince their parents to enter the Church.
