Poland: a “window of life” in CzestochowaThe “Window of life of blessed Edmundo Bojanowski” was inaugurated in Czestochowa during the feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth, on the initiative of the Metropolitan archbishop of Czestochowa, Msgr. Stanislaw Nowak, of the archdiocese’ Caritas and of the nuns of the Congregation of the “Servants of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God”. The “Window of life” that was opened in Czestochowa is the third “window” in Poland after those in Krakow and Warsaw. This endeavor will provide foster care to new-born babies, granting their mothers the possibility of leaving their children without having to be identified, in one of the homes of the sisters of the Congregation of the Servants of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. “It’s a place where women who don’t wish or can’t afford to look after a child can leave him with discretion, giving the child the possibility of being part of a family and a new home – said father Stanislaw Ilczyk, director of the Caritas of the archdiocese of Cz?stochowa -. Thus we fulfill the teachings of John Paul II and defend the life of the human person”. “The ‘Window of life of blessed Edmundo Bojanowski’ is a sign of hope for the newborn. It’s also a tool of goodness and mercy against abortion. In the past years, as experts explained, abortion made 20 million deaths in Poland. The ‘Window of life’ of Czestochowa is the defense of human life”, underlined Msgr. Nowak, metropolitan archbishop of Czestochowa.Slovenia: a symposium on catechesis”The Gospel – heart of catechesis”: that’s the theme of the 39th Symposium on catechesis to be held in the castle of Mirenskem from 25 to 30 January. The symposium, organized by the Office for Catechesis of the Slovene Catholic Church, is aimed at catechists, students of catechesis and all those involved in formation and education. Held annually, the symposium tries to respond in concrete ways to the signs of the times and the challenges that catechesis ought to tackle. In the mornings, a course of lectures will be given, with the aim of proposing guidelines for a form of catechesis geared to the needs of modern man. In the afternoons, the participants will attend a series of workshops, each based on the catechetical plan for particular groups of addressees. The organizers have also planned time for the exchange of experiences.Croatia: Caritas, fund-raising success”A little big heart for people”, the initiative with which Croatian Caritas of Osiejku has raised funds for its projects, has been a success, said the director of Caritas, Father Ivicom Rebicem, in presenting its results. The campaign was launched last autumn and held in the deaneries of Osiejku (in the east of the country) and Cepinskog (central Croatia). Not only money but food for the Caritas social canteen and other materials for the Centre for the homeless were collected. According to a recent survey, the number of homeless and vulnerable people has increased over the figures for previous years, and the aim of the Caritas campaign was to increase the Centre’s capacity to provide emergency accommodation and boost the number of meals provided in the canteen. Don Rebicem recently presented the results of the campaign “A little big heart for people”: some 8,600 euros were collected, of which half in cash and the other half in food and personal hygiene products. Project coordinator Olivera Balatinac said that some 35 parishes had responded to the Caritas initiative, many more than in the last such campaign, when only seven took part. Evidently, “donors – Balatinac added – are increasingly interested and involved in our projects”.Romania: prayer for Christian unity”This action of the Churches must be accompanied by specific efforts, at both the community and individual levels”, says the head of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church, Metropolitan Lucian Muresan, in his message for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. “There’s need for real penance, in other words that each Church should admit its contribution to disunity, as well as the sincere prayer of each Christian for the reparation of sins against unity”, explains the metropolitan. The President of the Romanian Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Ioan Robu, recalls, in turn, that “fortunately, in our time, very concrete gestures of bringing the Churches closer together are being made that testify how many Christians are suffering on account of the lack of unity”. “There are, unfortunately, also hostile attitudes and even steps backward – continues the archbishop – which only prayer, the cultivation of mutual trust and the courage of gestures that manifest the desire for unity can overcome”. Archbishop Robu insisted on the importance of prayer and mutual trust also during an ecumenical celebration held in the cathedral of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate on Monday, 19 January, in the presence of Patriarch Daniel of the Romanian Orthodox church. This year, the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate asked those of its clergy and faithful who participate in the initiatives organized during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity to “attend” such celebrations but “without liturgical involvement”. In fact, the bishop vicar of the Romanian Orthodox Patriarchate celebrated an evening prayer service in the patriarchal cathedral, attended by the representatives of the other Christian Churches, though without their active participation. In his homily after the prayer, Patriarch Daniel spoke of the importance of an ecumenism of charity “that convinces more than theological progress”, and insisted on the need for the “common witness” of Christian charity “in a world with so much discord and violence”.
