SPAIN: MADRID RALLY FOR THE RIGHT TO LIFE
A series of playful, academic and general information initiatives to raise the families’ awareness about the attendance of the great rally due to take place in Madrid, Spain, on Saturday 17th October for the right to life, for women and for motherhood. They are being proposed over these days by “Right to Live” (Dav), which is leading Saturday’s initiative and has been joined by over 40 Spanish civilian organisations and will be focussed on the motto, “Every life matters”. The organisers’ goal is to encourage the greatest possible mobilisation for what is considered to be one of the most widely shared events in democratic life.
ROMANIA: NATIONAL PRIEST MEETING
“Priesthood, charismatic service and institutional ministry”: this is the theme of the national meeting of Romanian Catholic priests to be held at the Carmelite monastery in Snagov, near Bucharest, from 13 to 16 October. The meeting, which is being attended by 80 priests from 10 out of the 11 dioceses of Romania. The programme includes moments of prayer, conferences on the theme and group discussions. The national meeting was promoted by Romanian bishops from both rites (Roman and Greek-Catholic) during the spring session of the Romanian Bishops’ Conference (last May). It is held in the framework of the Year for Priests with 5 more meetings to be hosted by other Romanian dioceses or eparchies.
ENGLAND: COMMON VESPERS IN WESTMINISTER CATHEDRAL
Catholic Primate Vincent Nichols will celebrate the vespers along with Anglican Primate Rowan Williams at Westminster Abbey on Friday 16th October. Westminster Abbey is the mother church of Anglicanism and the church in which English monarchs are crowned. “The event shows that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the Bishops’ Chamber of the Church of England are in good terms”, said the Secretary General for Ecumenical Affairs of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference Mgr Andrew Faley. “The dialogue between the two churches is lively. Catholic and Anglican bishops are co-operating to spread the Christian message in England and Wales, which are currently facing an ever-growing secularization”.