CHURCHES IN BRIEF
France: mobilization for John Paul IIGreat mobilisation from France for John Paul II; lots of pilgrimages have been organised by all the dioceses of the country as well as by parishes and associations to attend the beatification of the Pope in Rome on Sunday 1st May. These thousands of French pilgrims – as stated in a report from the French Bishops Conference – will go with about thirty bishops and will be the guests of the French community of Rome in the French churches of the capital: Saint-Louis-des-Français (which will be opened day and night from 29th April to 1st May), Saint-Nicolas-des-Lorrains, Saint-Claude-des-Bourguignons, Saint-Yves-des-Bretons and the Convent of French Minims at Trinità dei Monti. The archdiocese of Paris has organised two special trains to take 1,600 boys and girls to Rome, while the diocese of Aix en Provence-Arles has even organised a ship for a maritime pilgrimage to Rome. Card. André Vingt-Trois will officiate Mass in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore on Saturday 30th April at 4.00 pm. Same mobilisation for people who decided not to leave for Italy. In the cathedrals all over France, Masses will be celebrated in conjunction with the beatification, and in about sixty cities, live broadcasts will cover the Roman ceremonies on KTO TV. Vigils of prayer have been planned in Lourdes and Lisieux.Slovakia: a postage stamp for John Paul II”Beatification of John Paul II” is the name of a new postage stamp with the portrait of this Polish pope, emitted by the Slovak Post Office these days. This way official authorities of Slovak republic want to honour the head of Catholic church who was very close to the nation neighbouring his native Poland. He visited Slovakia three times – in 1990, 1995 and 2003. The stamp will be inaugurated and benedicted on 29 April in Nitra. Its dimensions are 27,5 x 34,2 mm; nominal value 40 cents and emitted quantity is 100,000 pcs.Czech Republic: celebrations for St. John NepomukCelebrations in honour of St. John Nepomucene Neumann in Czech republic will culminate in a nation-wide pilgrimage to his hometown Prachatice on 18 June in the presence of cardinal Justin Francis Rigali, the papal legate appointed by the Holy Father Benedict XVI. on 18 April. The event represents a highlight of celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Czech saint, considered to be the founder of the church education in the USA. The programme includes an exhibition entitled “The Life Journey of St. John Nepomucene Neumann” which was open on 15 April in the cloisters of the Dominican monastery in Budweis and is to last until 27 May. The edifice will also host a symposium on life and work of the saint, organized by the Diocese of Budweis in cooperation with the Theological Faculty of the South Bohemian University and the Czech Christian Academy on 4 May. John Nepomucene Neumann was born in 1811. During his life he became renowned in the USA where he received the sacrament of priesthood and was later ordained bishop in Philadelphia, the current seat of the papal legate to the national pilgrimage, archbishop Rigali. He was canonized in 1977.Hungary: new website for evangelizationIn the past weeks a new evangelization website www.evangelium365.hu was launched in Hungary. Its roots can be found in year 2005, when a catholic priest of the Diocese of Szombathely, Istvan Sandor Horvath, offered believers possibility to sign up for a mailing list to receive the Gospel of the day for the catholic mass according to the liturgical schedule, along with its explanation, short meditation of the text and a special prayer. Due to continuous signups there are currently about 28,000 people daily receiving spiritual nourishment this way. It’s estimated that since the beginning of the project some 30 million electronic gospel messages have been sent all over Hungary with population of approximately 10 million people, 6 million of which are Catholics. Recently the President of the Hungarian republic Pál Schmitt mentioned in an interview that he starts his day by reading an e-mail from the evangelization list server. Enormous interest of believers has encouraged father Horvath, who considers evangelization an important element of his priestly vocation, to establish a website that allows users to post comments of reflections on the daily Gospel and thus develop a religious dialogue among people.
