chURCHES IN BRIEF
Spain: card. Rouco reconfirmed CES president On March 1st the Archbishop of Madrid, cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, was re-elected president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference (CEE) for the years 2011-2013. The appointment, the second running, took place in the framework of the XCVII Plenary Assembly due to close today in Madrid. His Eminence was previously nominated to the same post in the years 1999-2005 and 2008-2011. At CEE he held various positions. He has been in charge of seminars, academic bodies and legislative documents. He was elected Archbishop of Madrid in 1994. In his capacities as CEE President he will receive Benedict XVI upon his arrival in the capital of Spain for the World Youth Day (August 16-21 2011). In his prolusion for the Plenary the cardinal invited “all faithful, the youth in particular” to take part in the WYD. “There’s still a short time to go”, His Eminence said. “The pilgrimage of the Cross of the Icon of the Holy Virgin across Spanish dioceses is turning out to be a moment of true grace. The months leading to the summer must be a special time for prayer and spiritual disposition in preparation for the major encounter of Madrid 2011”. For the cardinal, “the World Youth Day 2011 is a providential tool to the service of the Church’s missionary commitment in the evangelization of the youth”.Italia: card. Bagnasco on education”The Church respects and places much trust in the school establishment, which is a privileged place for education, especially since CEI has dedicated the current decade to the challenge of education”, said the Archbishop of Genoa, President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco on February 28. “Integral education is very dear to us, in schools and institutions alike, whether public or private – he added. What’s counts is human formation, the purpose of all levels of education”. While acknowledging the merit “of teachers and workers” who “dedicate themselves to their job with great generosity, commitment and expertise, in public and private schools”, card. Bagnasco said he hopes that “also the parents’ freedom of choice regarding their children’s education may further develop and be implemented”. “In general – he concluded – we all hope that school education at all levels and in all environments – will truly respond to what parents wish for their children”.Germany: looking forward to the Pope’s visitThe upcoming visit of Benedict XVI to Germany will be a further stimulus for ecumenical progress. Msgr. Gerhard Feige, bishop of Magdeburg, conveyed this hope in an interview released on February 27 by Catholic News Agency KNA. Msgr. Feige also referred to the Pope’s recent appeal to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation with a common ecumenical commemoration. “I am grateful that the Pope has given this thrust thus extending this ecumenical target, which is of great significance for Germany in particular, at global level”. Msgr. Feige noted that the positions of the Catholic and Protestant Churches on bioethics themes “made the ecumenical commitment more difficult”, although “leading figures of the Protestant world uphold the same solutions” propounded by the Catholic Church. In illustrating the ecumenical activity of his diocese, in the framework of a Protestant-majority environment, Msgr. Feige recalled the tradition based on “a relationship of deep trust” marked by a “mutually constructive and correct approach”.England: ashes, an exterior symbol of penance”Please try not to rub off your ashes as soon as you leave church, but take the sign of the cross to all those that you meet – in your school, office, factory, wherever you may be”, said Msgr. Kieran Conry in preparation for March 9, Ash Wednesday. “It is the start of Lent when we are invited for forty days to set aside more time for prayer and fasting in preparation for Easter. “The Ashes, made in the sign of the cross on our foreheads on this day, are an outward sign of our inward sorrow for our sins and of our commitment to Jesus as Our Lord and Saviour”, said the Bishop, Director of the Department for Evangelization and Catechesis of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales”. Msgr. Conry invited not to “underestimate the power of this simple action and wear your ashes as not only a sign of the beginning of your Lenten journey, but also to witness to your greatest treasure in life”. Many people are unaware of Lent and the values of the Ashes, thus, the bishop concluded, “this small step could awaken faith in the hearts of many that you meet in a way that words could never do so”.
