Germany: a smiling Church A solemn mass inaugurated the celebrations for the millennium of the Dome a few days ago. To the presence of 1200 people, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, the city’s archbishop, exhorted to “give God an important place in life” without “transforming the life of God in the world into a farce”. The Cardinal criticized “the distance from God, the hostility towards life and the surging lack of solidarity” in contemporary society. “People ought to follow God not only in their intentions but also in concrete behavior”, so that “the spirit of God may dwell within them”. The event – the first of a series that are ongoing until November – was attended also by the President of Germany’s Bishops’ Conference Msgr. Robert Zollitsch, who underlined that “the evolution of the life of the German Church is strictly linked to the Dome and diocese of Magonza”. In his address Msgr. Zollitsch called for a living Christian life: “through baptism we were placed on the foundations laid by the apostles. But the building of living stones is kept together by Jesus Christ. The Church needs people who will erect buildings and who will turn the Church into a place to be lived and be known. After 1000 years since the Dome’s erection, the message is: the Church lives and smiles”. Zollitsch highlighted the event as a “great opportunity” for the Church of Magonza. “The Jubilee is mostly a spiritual event, it’s the memory of the century-old history of this Church” and “an encouragement to look to the future with hope”.Austria: good rules for Islam in school During a Muslim-Christian meeting held a few days ago in Wien, Cardinal Christhoph Schönborn, President of Austria’s Bishops’ Conference and archbishop of Wien, proposed closer cooperation with the Muslim community as relates to the training and specialization of teachers of religion. The meeting, held at the archbishopric, was attended by the President of Austria’s Muslim community Anas Schakfeh. In his address, the cardinal recalled that Churches and religious communities are responsible for the quality of the teaching of confessional religion. “As Catholic Church we implement this approach within the current difficult situation”; “we’re ready to support the development of the teaching of Islam and share our experiences”. This willingness is also due to the “acknowledgement of the efforts made by Islamic faith communities to ensure that classes correspond to Austrian and European legal standards”, Schönborn explained, pointing out that these standards include “the obvious recognition of democracy and human rights”. “Confessional religious classes are precious since they grant students the possibility to learn more about their cultural and religious roots. Only this can lead to the development of a personal motivated religious faith”, he concluded. Schakfeh thanked the cardinal for the offer of cooperation and said he will take the question of Islamic religion classes into serious consideration. The debate regarding Islamic religion classes gained primary attention in Austria after a survey carried out by Islamic scholar and pedagogue Mouhanad Khorchide showed that a number of religion teachers not only hold anti-democratic stands but have also training deficits. However Schakfeh guarded against generalizations: “people react as if all Muslim religion teachers were antidemocratic and fanatic”, he claimed, since “even the survey in exam has shown that this is not the case of teachers’ majority”. Czech Republic: solidarity of the small ones The Three Kings’ Christmas charity fund-raising promoted by the Czech Caritas amounts to over 2 million euro, although this is still a rough estimate. It is the largest sum ever collected since the initiative was founded nine years ago, even higher than 2005’s, the year of the Tsunami tragedy. In fact, 2.25 million euro were placed in 14727 charity boxes , while other 100 thousand euro were transferred through text messages. The money will serve to fund solidarity works at local level and to support diocesan projects. “The cantors aren’t only called to collect the money – declared Caritas chairman Oldrich Haicman – but also to transmit the joy of the birth of Jesus”. The “Three Kings collection” is the most important volunteer project in the Country involving 14 thousand groups representing over 50 thousand children.
