COMECE: conference at the EP on the protection of SundayThe European Commission will shortly present a new draft of its “Working Time Directive”. To relaunch the debate at the European level on the protection of Sunday as a day of rest, MEPs Thomas Mann (EPP, Germany) and Patrizia Toia (S&D, Italy) are promoting, together with the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation, a conference in Brussels on 24 March. The event, which will be held in the European Parliament (Rue Wiertz, from 16.30 to 19.39), is also supported by many European trade unions, organizations of civil society and Churches. The speakers will include László Andor, new EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, and various experts and MEPs. “In its initial 1993 version – explains a press release of the Commission of Episcopates of the European Community (COMECE), which supports the initiative – the Directive stipulated that Sunday should be ‘in principle’ the weekly day of rest for European workers. This reference had been withdrawn in 1996 by the European Court of Justice, on the grounds that the European legislator had not given sufficient reasons as to a link between a work-free Sunday and the protection of workers’ health”. COMECE points out, however, that since then various studies “have demonstrated the existence of a strong link between workers’ health and a work-free Sunday. Furthermore – continues the press release – a common weekly rest day for the whole of society allows families to spend time with each other, and all citizens to engage in cultural, spiritual and social activities”. According to COMECE, apart from that, Sunday “strengthens the social cohesion of our societies, which has been undermined by the current economic crisis. It therefore represents a precious achievement, which should be recognized as a pillar of the European Social Model. For these reasons COMECE supports the conference “and invites every interested person and organization to take part” in it.Switzerland: the 287th assembly of bishopsSolidarity between the Churches after the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, concerns for Christians in Iraq, Egypt, India and Nigeria and the reaffirmation of the Church’s opposition to assisted suicide were the main points on the agenda at the 287th ordinary assembly of the Swiss Bishops’ Conference -, the first to be chaired by the new President of the Conference, the Most Rev. Norbert Brunner. The assembly ended in Lugano on 3 March. The bishops, says a press release issued on the following day, affirmed the need, “after the first emergency aid” to Haiti, to “rebuild the infrastructures of the Catholic Church” in the country. The “Fête-Dieu” collection will be devolved to reconstruction. The Swiss bishops also expressed their solidarity with the Christians and minorities subjected to violence in Iraq, and made a twofold appeal: “to the forces present [in Iraq] to commit themselves to guaranteeing respect for minorities”, and “to the Christians of Switzerland to pray for peace in that country”. They also expressed their solidarity with the Coptic Church in Egypt, with which the abbey of St-Maurice maintains “particular relations”, and with the “Christians threatened” in India and Nigeria. Informed of the procedure of consultation on the revision of the penal code and the military penal code with regard to assistance in suicide, the bishops, continues the press release, “share the position adopted by the experts of the bioethics Commission of the Bishops’ Conference and call for the prohibition of assistance in organized suicide”.Poland: the “Gniezno Assembly” on the family “The family, hope of Europe” is the theme of the 8th Gniezno Assembly (12-14 March) in which the participants will include Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, representatives of various Churches, leaders and activists of Christian movements throughout Europe, politicians, men of culture and economists. “The present condition of the family and its future are crucial questions for the future of our continent”, says the Primate and Archbishop of the oldest Polish diocese, the Most Rev. Henryk Muszynski, in his letter of invitation to the meeting in which “an attempt will be made to reply to the questions posed about the meaning, role and future of the family in Europe”. The archbishop, stressing the need for greater awareness of what is meant by the family, warns: “Its crisis in Europe is leading to a social crisis, and also to a crisis of the Church”. “We cannot renounce proclaiming the truth about the family constituted by God, and composed of a man, a woman and children. Until a short time ago everyone knew what the family was, whereas today it needs a clear definition”. Vision and tasks of the family through the study of the differences that exist in Europe and the world, relations within the family, and analyses of family policies in the various countries: these are the central focal points of the meeting, which will also be punctuated by prayers and celebrations. Its “ecumenical character”, points out Archbishop Muszynski, is also underlined by the “Ecumenical Pro-Life March” which will be held in the streets of the city on the evening of Saturday 13 March.
