CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Portugal: CNIS, fiscal measures and solidarity are positive signsThe president of the national Confederation of Solidarity Institutions (CNIS), Fr Lino Maia, welcomed the measures provided for in the 2012 national Budget, announced a few days ago by Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, intended to cut taxes on Public Institutions for Social Solidarity (IPSS). In particular, the new measures stipulate the restitution of 50% of the VAT paid for the building, maintenance and preservation of real estate, provided for in art. 171. The regulations also reaffirm the validity of fiscal exemption for all solidarity Institutions, regardless of their specific religious identity, questioned on the occasion of the State’s financial agreement with the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund. “They cannot be quantified, but these are extremely positive signs – said Fr Maia – which highlight the strong commitment and the fruits of CNIS’ ongoing dialogue with the present government”. To this regard, “these measures will support our reconstruction and maintenance works. They greatly benefit our charities – concluded the CNIS president – but clearly our efforts are directed at the full revision of the fiscal system. I think that in the future IPSS should enjoy the same regime envisaged for administrative autarchies”.Czech Republic: National Catechists’ Congress”Christian initiation” is the theme of the 8th national Congress of Catechists in the Czech Republic, due to take place on 26-29 October. Organised by the Catechetical section of the Czech Bishops’ Conference in cooperation with the Centre for Catechesis in Olomouc and other diocesan centres, the event will be an opportunity to reflect on topics like catechumenate in present days and its historical roots, liturgical rites in regard to catechumenate, kerygmatic theology, or pedagogy of Christian initiation with focus on children and its role in the family. The final address of the congress will be delivered by the archbishop of Olomouc, Msgr. Jan Graubner, who will concentrate on preparations for the sacrament of Confirmation as a completion of the Catholic initiation process. As he stresses in his letter addressed to the confirmees in his diocese, “adult Christians become responsible for the Church on the basis of their participation in the life of the community. Those who discover the treasure of the Kingdom of God, shouldn’t keep it to themselves. They become apostles and they ought to bring Christ to all the people they care for”. The event will take place in Velehrad – the most important pilgrimage place in the Czech Republic. “It has been chosen in relation to the historical significance of the forthcoming 1150th anniversary of the arrival of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in the region”, said Katerina Futerova from the Catechetical section of the Czech Bishops’ Conference. In the 9th-10th centuries Velehrad was the capital of the Slavic state of Great Moravia.Austria: ecumenical rally for Egyptian Copts A joint declaration by Card. Christoph Schönborn, president of the Austrian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and the Copt Orthodox Bishop Anba Gabriel, has closed in Vienna the rally of Christian Copts in solidarity and condemnation of the recent “Maspero slaughtering” in Egypt. Card. Schönborn and Bishop Gabriel have criticized the “disinformation campaign” on the event, “aimed at covering responsibilities”, as they wrote in the joint statement. “We ask for the protection of Churches and Christian faithful, full equality between Christians and Muslims in the new Egypt and justice for all, which has been so much yearned for”, they affirm in the declaration. According to the organizers, approximately 2,500 people have taken part in the rally, including Abba Birhanu Kassahun Debebe of the Orthodox Ethiopian Church, and the supervising authority of the Reformed Evangelical Church of Austria, Thomas Hennefeld. During the common prayer in the Cathedral of St. Stephan, Card. Schönborn described Christian Copts as “a great gift” for the country and emphasised that “through their witness of faith they offer an important contribution to the renewed growth of Christian faith in Austria”.
