England and Wales: the Pope’s invitationThe Catholic Church of England and Wales should “Continue to insist upon your right to participate in national debate through respectful dialogue with other elements in society”, said Pope Benedict XVI to the English Bishops during their ad limina visit in the Vatican on February 1st, in view of the Pope’s visit to Britain next September. The Pope said: “In doing so, you are not only maintaining long-standing British traditions of freedom of expression and honest exchange of opinion, but you are actually giving voice to the convictions of many people who lack the means to express them: when so many of the population claim to be Christian, how could anyone dispute the Gospel’s right to be heard?”. His Holiness acknowledged that the UK “is well known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society”. “Yet as you have rightly pointed out”, added the Holy Father, “the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs”. In his address the Pope exhorted the bishops to give “a warm and open-hearted welcome” to those groups of Anglicans who wish to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church as envisaged in the provisions of the Apostolic Constitution “Anglicanorum Coetibus”. “I am convinced that, if given a warm and open-hearted welcome, such groups will be a blessing for the entire Church”, Pope Benedict XVI said. In a meeting with the press, Msgr. Vincent Nichols, President of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales said: “I am almost sure that the meeting with the archbishop of Canterbury Dr.Rowan Williams, leader of the Anglican Communion, will be the high point of the forthcoming visit of Benedict XVI to England”.Austria: “filling up the soul””Fill up with energy for the soul” is the title of a brochure published by the Austrian organization for the promotion of vocations Canisiuswerk, which illustrates the opportunities for spiritual tourism. The 200-page brochure, with a calendar format, presents some 500 convents and ecclesial formation centres located across Austria providing lodging and areas for religious silence, fasting, biblical courses, chants and dancing, along with traditional spiritual exercises. The brochure has an annexed leaflet titled “Convent holidays”, listing all the proposals, which include the possibilities of taking part in the life of monasteries and convents run by monks or nuns. The brochure is available at Canisiuswerk’s offices in Vienna. Info: www.canisius.at.Portugal: worrying poverty ratesA few days ago the city of Guimarães hosted an international seminar on the working conditions in Portugal with the theme “Poor despite being employed”, which showed that some 40% of the Portuguese population seriously risk becoming poor, a condition which already involves 2 million citizens. Almost half of the families has experienced serious financial difficulties or live on the threshold of poverty, which is affecting an increasing amount of the employed population. The worrying situation of social alarm was documented by Gloria Cardoso, manager of the Catholic Labourers League (LOC): “Today, in contrast to the past, being employed no longer ensures protection against poverty. An increasing number of Portuguese workers risk falling into a state of poverty, which currently involves 18% of the overall population whose monthly income is below 389 euro”, she said. “The percentage of workers living in a state of poverty has reached 12% of the employed population, compared to 8% registered across EU Countries, and the negative trend is bound to continue. The salary of 41% of dependent workers ranges from 300 to 600 euro; and the self-employed are experiencing greater difficulties than the unemployed. Unemployment benefits have a time-limit and 32% of those who completely depend on this form of assistance risk becoming poor”. The LOC spokesperson pointed out that economic difficulties mostly affect large families, single-parent households, the unemployed and retired population brackets, and temporary workers. And to this regard she underlined the serious material and moral repercussions of this state of things. “Exceedingly low salaries for survival jeopardise social values affecting primarily basic expenses such as health and nutrition”.
