Poland, Spain, Italy

Poland: Christians and European integration “Christians’ contribution to the European integration process” is the theme of the Congress that will take place in Krakow next September 10-11, on the initiative of the Pontifical University John Paul II in Krakow, of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Poland and of the Robert Schuman Foundation in Luxembourg in cooperation with the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), the Polish delegation of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, and the publishing house “Wokol Nas”. The meeting will be opened by bishop Tadeusz Pieronek, President of the organizing Committee, and by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Metropolitan archbishop of Krakow. Christians’ presence in the public sphere, EU-Church cooperation (mutual advantages in structured dialogue), and the tasks of Christian politicians in the erection of a new Europe are the themes of the three working sessions. Among the speakers figure Bronislaw Komorowski, President of the Republic of Poland; Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the Adenauer Foundation; Jacques Santer, President of the Schuman Foundation; the patriarch of Venice Angelo Scola; Msgr. Dominik Duka, Metropolitan archbishop of Prague; the Apostolic Nuncio in Poland Msgr. Celestino Migliore and Father Piotr Mazurkiewicz, COMECE Secretary General. Info: www.kas.plSpain: Sant’Egidio, 24th Peace Meeting “With this event we wish to mark the end of the first decade of the millennium, begun with catastrophes such as that of Sept.11, 2001 and culminated with the ongoing economic crisis of unforeseeable proportions. We wish to open the decade of dialogue with a positive, new message, bucking the previous trend”, said Mario Marazziti, spokesman of the Sant’Egidio Community, on September 8 during the presentation of the “24th International Peace Meeting” titled “Living together in a time of crisis”, organized by the same Community in Barcelona next October 3 to 5. “During the panel meetings representatives of the religious, political and economic spheres will address various topical issues such as globalization, economy, integration, peace, migrations, ecumenical and interreligious dialogue. Through these exchanges – he added – we will seek to identify new proposals for the next decade”. The 3-day event features an intense program with 30 conferences: “It’s an important patrimony of thought and encounter” Marazziti said, providing details on the participants. “There will be a large Islamic delegation from 16 countries, a Chinese delegation from the Civil and Religious Affairs Ministry. High representatives of African Countries engaged in the transition to democratic elections will share their contribution on the value of dialogue. Representatives of the European Union such as Jerzy Buzek, president of the European Parliament will equally attend the meeting”. Mario Giro, from the Sant’Egidio community, pointed out: “An ad hoc panel on the recently-resumed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations will take place, with lectures by an Israeli and a Palestinian minister”. Participants include bishops from Iraq and from the Holy Land, rabbis and Imams. Ilarion, President of the Department for External Relations of Moscow’s patriarchate, will address the theme of Christian unity. The latter’s presence, for Marazziti, “is significant for the relations between Moscow’s Orthodox patriarchate and the Catholic Church”.Italy: the Mediterranean Youth Agorà On September 7 the 9th Mediterranean Youth Agorà was presented in the John Paul II Centre in Loreto. The event will be held in Loreto and Macerata on September 12 to 19 2010 under the aegis of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, on the occasion of the celebrations of the IV centenary of the death of Father Matteo Ricci. Youth from Countries bordering the Mediterranean – and this year for the first time also from Asia – will take part in the Agorà. “Young people, their desire of growth in diversity, are the protagonists of the event”, underlined father Francesco Pierpaoli, director of the Centre and coordinator of the Agorà. The lectures by scholars will contribute to discover the meaning of individual roots, and of acculturation”. Msgr. Giovanni Tonucci, archbishop Pontifical Delegate of Loreto, recalled: “the John Paul II Centre is a significant site for the diocese and for the entire Italian Church. With time it has developed into an international meeting point of youth from different Christian confessions and religions”. The meeting with the press was attended, among others, by Msgr. Claudio Giuliodori, bishop of Macerata, who reiterated: “The real challenge of our times is the encounter between the East and the West, a paradigm for the future”.