Germany: “Christian faith, a source for the future””We cannot understand Christianity as a treasure of the past. Christian thought is a fruitful force of the future”. Msgr. Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, called for a new mindset across society. Msgr. Marx presided over the ceremony for the opening of the New Year held January 22 at the archdiocese of Munich to the presence of some 500 personalities from the political, ecclesial and social realms. “Christian faith is the source of the future, a creative and spiritual force to undertake new paths with imagination but also with experienced principles and values”. For this reason, continued the archbishop, “as Christians it’s irresponsible to spread the fear of the future”. Marx spoke in favor of the commitment of Catholic politicians “leading to peace and to the involvement in concrete social issues” in all areas of society, even though “the Church is not a political entity. Our mission is to be receptive to people’s troubles, share their concerns and their needs. We want to contribute to cooperation and to solidarity”. Christians “must not shy away from the Christian message”; they must bear witness to the fact that “Christian faith helps our thought and action”. “This is the theme of the second Ecumenical Day of the Churches”, due to be held next May in Munich. “We don’t want to underline what divides us. Indeed, we are united by a common hope. It is a question of bearing public witness to the fact that the Christian Church not only has a future, but that she is the future”, concluded Msgr. Marx, inviting all those presents to attend the ecumenical event. Portugal: the bishops demand school reformJanuary 22-24 the Bishops’ Commission for Christian Education organized the symposium “Conceiving education, preparing the future” at the Catholic University of Lisbon. The purpose of the event is “to hold an broad-ranged debate on the school establishment in Portugal, in the framework of the cultural transformation of Europe, identifying the paths to be undertaken, renewing hope in the future and assuming courageous commitments”. The President of the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference (CEP) Msgr. Jorge Ortiga, underlined “the importance and the urgency to focus on prestigious school establishment skills”, since “the commitment for a new reform can be postponed no further. Such reform ought to meet two objectives: the development of traditional values and the open reception to contemporary stimuli”. “Cultural formation must be integrated with the request for and the openness towards the transcendent element, so that educational values may be witnessed, guide human existence and transform human conscience”, added the archbishop of Braga, who also recalled the special role played by the Church in communicating educational pluralism. “The Church has the right to present its peculiarity, but she is also obliged to give credibility to her projects. The educational system is the first area of hope for life, and the family is the first agent of school, in harmony with the integral project of values: we are all responsible in the erection of this future.” All the lectures of the symposium and the final address can be viewed by logging on www.educris.com.Slovenia: the installation of Msgr. StresOn January 24 in the dome of Saint Nicholas was held the ceremony for the elevation of Msgr. Anton Stres to the rank of Metropolitan archbishop of Ljubljana. The ceremony was attended, among others, by the President of the Republic and the Head of the Government, by Church dignitaries, by political personalities and numerous faithful of the archdiocese and of all Slovenia. The apostolic nuncio in Slovenia, archbishop Santos Santos Abril y Castelló presided over the installation of Msgr. Stres. Benedict XVI elevated Msgr. Stres to the rank of metropolitan archbishop of Ljubljana on November 28 2009, after his predecessor Msgr. Alojz Uran. The Episcopal motto of the new archbishop of the Slovenian capital is drawn from the Letter to the Corinthians (9,23): “I do all this for the sake of the Gospel”. Past January 11 2010 Msgr. Stres was elected President of the Slovenian Bishops’ Conference (CES) with a mandate until March 16 2012.
