Ordinariate beset by leadership crisis Report, page 34


ROME


Campaign starts to win back West


Robert Mickens and Abigail Frymann


THE initial preparatory document for next year’s Synod for the New Evangelisation has been published this week, revealing a Catholic hierarchy preoccupied with the secularisation of the West. The evangelisation will engage with Western cultures caught in a period of profound change and uncertainty. “We are living in a particularly significant, historic moment of change, of tension and of a loss of equilibrium and points of reference,” say the lineamenta or draft guidelines for the synod assembly, which will take place from 7 to 28 October 2012 in Rome. “The situation is requiring the Church to consider, in an entirely new way, how she proclaims and transmits the faith,” the document says. The document offers a broad reflection on


the “new evangelisation”, although it stops short of giving examples of forms it might take. It says the Church must focus on “six sectors affected by change” if it wants to draw


FRANCE Catholic-Jewish team says the Shoah must not be forgotten


THE INTERNATIONAL Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee (ILC) marked 40 years of dialogue last week in Paris with officials concerned to ensure that new generations appreciate the historic reconciliation between the two faiths, writes Tom Heneghan. They also discussed whether their model of dialogue could be extended to bilateral or trilateral talks with Muslims. The four-day meeting of the ILC, which was formed in 1971, issued a final declaration noting the progress made since the Second Vatican Council and denouncing “repeated instances of violence or terrorism ‘in the name of God’, including the increased attacks against Christians, and calls for the destruction of the state of Israel”. In their closed-door talks, speakers among the 60 delegates mentioned current flash- points – especially the proposed beatification of Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust denial by Society of St Pius X Bishop Richard


Williamson – but focused mostly on future challenges. Several delegates said these issues, while sensitive, would not derail the dialogue. Cardinal Kurt Koch, whose Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity includes the office for relations with Jews, said: “We have new generations for whom the problems between Judaism and


A YEAR before national elections, President Nicolas Sarkozy has brought religion into the political forum by praising France’s Christian heritage and prompting a debate on the role of Islam, writes Tom Heneghan. Critics have accused him of using concerns about


Christianity, especially the Shoah, are history.” He went on: “We can’t leave that to history, it must be present.” Rabbi David Rosen, of the American Jewish Committee, agreed, saying that today most young Catholics have no comprehension of how tragic the relationship in the past between Jews and Catholics was.


Sarkozy affirms importance of nation’s Christian roots


both faiths to fight off a rising challenge from the far-right National Front. Mr Sarkozy chose


Puy-en-Velay, a traditional starting point for the medieval pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela, as his stage to declare on 3 March: “Christianity has left us a magnificent


heritage of civilisation and culture. As the president of a secular republic, I can say that because it’s the truth.” Mr Sarkozy’s governing UMP party will lead a debate about Islam in France next month, addressing such issues as whether cities should subsidise mosque-building.


12 March 2011 | THE TABLET | 33


people back to the Christian faith – culture, society, social communications, the economy, science and public life. It notes that culture has been secularised while there has been a resurgence of sects and fundamentalism. The author finds that a major aspect of


societal change has been migration, a devel- opment resulting in the erosion of some traditional values but offering the opportunity to see all five continents as “fields of missionary activity”. The document sees social communications as “one of [the Church’s] greatest challenges” as they could foster a globalised culture char- acterised by selfishness, and it urges Christians to “show boldness” in such forums. The lineamenta find that the Church needs


to take specific measures to address poverty across the world, and regarding scientific advancement it concludes that technology itself has become for some people a kind of philosophy for life. Two major global developments are cited: the fall of Communism and the rise of Asian and Islamic nations, which, the document finds, have “created an unprecedented yet totally unknown situation which is rich in potential but also fraught with risks”. Rather than offering answers to the issues


raised, the lineamenta contain a series of questions aimed at stimulating deeper reflec- tion by bishops and those they are being urged to consult. The bishops are to send the synod secretariat their responses before 1 November. These will form the basis for the synod assem- bly’s working document.


TURKEY


Churches still face ‘long path’ to freedom


A SENIOR Turkish Protestant has said his country’s small Christian Churches still face severe hardships, despite recent pledges by the Government to improve protection of religious rights,writes Jonathan Luxmoore. Zekai Tanyar, chairman of Turkey’s


Association of Protestant Churches, said: “Full religious freedom is still a long way off here, and all Christian denominations face difficulties. Government officials assure us they’ll look into our problems, such as by offering us police protection. But no attempt is being made to present us in a more positive light.” He said Protestants and Catholics


differed from Turkey’s Armenian and Greek Orthodox Christians, since most came from recent Muslim Turkish backgrounds, rather than from ethnic minorities, and did not have historic claims to churches and properties in the country. However, he added that, despite being


ethnic Turks, they were viewed as “not belonging”, and as “collaborators with the forces of Christendom which are out to break up the country”.


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