chURCHES IN BRIEF
Italy: the 150th anniversary of political unification”The national identity of the Italians, so strongly rooted in Catholic traditions”, formed “the most solid basis for the achievement of political unity”, declared Benedict XVI, in a message of good wishes delivered to the Holy See’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, to mark the 150th anniversary of the political unification of Italy, celebrated on 17 March. The Pope emphasized the “salutary laicity denoted by the Italian State and its constitutional order”, and the “two supreme principles” called “to preside over relations between the Church and the political community: that of the distinction of roles and that of cooperation”. “Raising to God the hymn of thanksgiving for Italy”, in the “consciousness that the Country that has given birth to us is at once a precious inheritance and a demanding responsibility”: that’s how Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, explained the sense of the celebration over which he presided in the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome, in the presence of President Napolitano and the highest authorities of the State, on 17 March. Unification, observed the cardinal, “is the real strength of society and of the State, the greatest treasure to be guarded with love and to be transmitted intact to the young generations”. According to Cardinal Bagnasco, “religion, in general, and in Italy the Christian communities in particular, were and remain a leaven at people’s side: they propagate sharing and evangelical hope; they are the source from whence is born the meaning of life, and the permanent memory of moral values. The 100,000 bell-towers of our Italy inspire a widespread community of feeling that identifies without excluding, and enables us to recognize, share and solicit a sense of affectionate belonging to and generous participation in the Christian community, in the life of our village, town, city, region, and in the State itself”.Portugal: John Paul II, the “Pope of Fatima”The Portuguese Bishops’ Conference has issued a pastoral Note on the beatification of John Paul II (1920-2005), due to take place in Rome on 1st May. This document calls Karol Wojtyla the “Pope of Fatima”. It explains: “With the beatification of John Paul II, the Church intends to emphasize the features of a specific saintliness, believing as she does not only that it should be known and admired, but that it may also constitute a guide and a stimulus for the path of conversion and service of the faithful in our time”. “The saint is a sinner, who is reached by divine grace and liberated, to such an extent that he can become a signal of hope for the world, and the revelation of a living God in which we can have faith, because he is ever close to us: the life of John Paul II is undoubtedly one of these signs capable of irradiating hope”. Describing the quality of the future Blessed, the Portuguese bishops define him as a “man capable of communicating his intense interior life, a prophet of bold interventions in the name of justice and peace, a servant who showed love for the weakest and forgiveness for his enemies, a witness of joy in good health and in illness, and a man with the highest respect for life”. The document invites the faithful to participate in the national commemoration of the beatification, to be held at Fatima on 13 May. “John Paul II cultivated a genuine Christian devotion for the Virgin Mary, expressing in his life his episcopal motto: Totus Tuus”; from this point of view, “it is right to consider him” “the Pope of Fatima who came to the Sanctuary a year after the attempt on his life in St. Peter’s Square, on 13 May 1981, to thank the Queen of Peace for having providentially saved him”, conclude the bishops.Ukraine: Synod for the election of UGCC Primate at LvivThe Synod of bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) opened in Lviv on 21 March. In the course of the Synod, the new Archbishop Major of Kyiv and Primate of the UGCC will be elected according to the norms of canon 128 of the Code of Canons of the Oriental Churches, in succession to Cardinal Lubomyr Husar who has resigned for reasons of old age. The Synod, officiated by the administrator of the UGCC, Bishop Ihor Vozniak, is being attended by 45 bishops coming not only from Ukraine but also from the Ukrainian diaspora in America, Europe and Oceania; they shall remain in Lviv until Benedict XVI’s confirmation of the election and the official proclamation of the new Archbishop Major. The ceremony for his enthronement is due to take place in the cathedral of the Risen Christ at Kyiv on Sunday, 27 March. Legislative organ of the Church composed of bishops and normally convened once each year, the Synod determines internal and external policy and makes decisions on pastoral, ecumenical and educational questions. Cardinal Husar has led the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church since the death of Cardinal Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky, and was the first head of the UGCC to be elected by a special synod, convened after the emergence of Greek-Catholics from a clandestine existence. There are estimated to be approximately 6.5 million Ukrainian Catholics, the majority of them resident in Ukraine itself.
