Hungary: worrying violence Hungarian bishops voiced their concern over the murder of people from different ethnic groups committed in the past month, causing public disquiet. On March 3 were the funerals of two gipsies, a young father and his five-year-old child, killed by unknown assailants who set their house to fire over a week ago. Three weeks earlier, a volley-ball athlete of Romanian origin was killed and other two athletes were seriously wounded in a city in the Transdanube area. In this case the murderers were gipsies. Hungary’s Bishops’ Conference and the Country’s Protestant Churches issued statements on the issue. “The surging acts of violence committed in our Country – the bishops wrote – are reason for serious concern. We convey our compassion to the victims and to their families”. To this regard, the bishops criticised “phoney parades that are carried out without the support of society, under banners that refer to extremist stances”. “We believe – they declared – that these actions divert attention from the true problems”. “In this delicate situation – continues the note issued yesterday – Hungary’s Bishops’ Conference invites all those who are in the position of making decisions, to address concrete problems instead of dealing with artificial problems that don’t exist, and not to seek solutions through the media. The real problems are public safety, social security, basic healthcare services, the protection of the family, teaching and the education of the next generations”. Also the Lutheran Church of Hungary underlined in a statement the responsibility of national leadership, appealing to individual responsibility and conscience. On the same wave length, Gusztáv Bölcskei, President of the Council of Hungary’s Calvinist Church declared: “the current situation is the consequence of a series of omissions, the result of a decades-long process leading to communities’ disintegration, whose greatest responsibilities are to be found in politics and the State, in the hands of those people that are in leadership positions. Today policies and governmental actions must focus on the human person and on society, and not only serve short-term egoistic gains…” Ukraine: Yushchenko writes to cardinal HusarIn a message of good wishes sent to Cardinal Lubomyr (Husar), leader of Ukraine’s Greek-Catholic Church, on the occasion of his 76th birthday, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko thanked the Cardinal for the work done for the benefit of the entire Nation. “I greatly respect his relentless, disinterested commitment for the glory of God, for the good of the faithful of the Greek-Catholic Ukranian Church, and for the entire nation. May the Lord give you the strength to perform your pastoral ministry, and the faith and wisdom to continue bringing Christian love, compassion, peace and concord throughout society. I wish you good health, happiness and the grace of God for many happy years”. While the situation of the faithful of the Catholic community of Dnipropetrovsk, in the Western region of Ukraine, who since January 25 have been acting in defence of their parish Church of Saint Joseph unjustly sold to an American company is finally drawing to a close. Past February 13, the head of the regional Administration of Dnipropetrovsk, Viktor Bodnár, claimed that the authorities are ready to give their support to restore the Church to the Catholic community and for this they are willing to reimburse the American company Dugsbery, Inc. Bodnár also underlined that the church must not become private property since not only is it a religious building but also a cultural and historical monument.France: the youth and the challenge of dialogue The National Service for the evangelization of the youth and of secondary school students (SNEJSE) encourages all French students to address “The challenge of inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue”. Indeed, this is the main topic of the meeting that will be held in Créteil next March 6-8 and will be devoted to the formation and discovery of other religions. In a note, France’s Bishops’ Conference explained that “population flows are now a reality in our society”. This is perceivable in France’s universities. In the academic year 2007-2008, out of over two million students, 15% (300 thousand) students are foreigners. The programme envisages the personal testimonies of Jewish, Christian and Muslim students along with a visit to the mosque and to the synagogue of Créteil.
