Scandinavia: Growing Church and Ever More Seminarians

NB: innocent until otherwise proven. Flowers can indeed grow in inhosptable places and help can come unlooked from afar.

Vienna (kat.net/KAP)  The Catholic Church in Scandinavia grows, and even the numbers of home grown priests climbs:  as reported by a communique from Stift Heiligenkreuz on the Spring convocation of the Northern Bishop Conference it reads, there are already 60 young men from the region, who are seminarians from Scandinavia studying for the priesthood.  Many of them are converts from the Lutheran National Church.

According to cautious estimates, there are at present in the seven Diocese of Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and islands about 500,000 Catholics.  The number grows rapidly; the trend is counter to the rest of Europe.  The reasons for this are mobility, growing numbers of refugees, conversions as well as a large number of baptisms.

According to the communique the general convocation was held to approve the statutes for seminary rectors.  In the text, the Bishops also stressed their thanks to Benedict XVI. and blessings for the successor Francis.  The Northern Bishops Conference meets till Wednesday in the University of Heilegenkreuz.

Copyright 2013 Katholische Presseagentur, Wien, Österreich (www.kathpress.at) Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

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The Pope Directs Severe Criticism on Religious Instruction and Catholic Employees

Pope Benedict has criticized religious instruction in Germany in his book "Light of the World": "The Bishops must reconsider here how Catechesis can be given a new heart and a new face.

Rome (kath.net)  Pope Benedict has directed severe criticism against religious instruction in Germany in his new book, "Light of the World".  Peter Seewald asked the question how it is possible that with the responsibility falling at the end of the day to the Diocese that the children might know Buddhism, but on the other hand know almost nothing of the fundamentals of Catholicism:  "That is a question which I've also asked myself.  In Germany every child has nine to thirteen years of religious instruction.  How so little can come from that, as it is expressed here, is inconceivable. The Bishops must reconsider here how Catechesis can be given a new heart and a new face."

Benedict also criticized Catholics in official positions, who live by their Catholic confession [if nothing else].  Peter Seewald posed the following question: "Even in the ecclesiastical media there is the infestation of a 'culture of doubt' valued as chic.  Whole editorial staffs take up the usual uncritical catch words critical of the Church.  Bishops follow their media advisers, who recommend a shallow course, so that their liberal image won't suffer any damage.   Whenever a religious book is removed from the main line of goods by the still large church owned media concerns -- it is then not problematic, to speak still about the New Evangelization?"  The answer of Pope Benedict is clear: "These are all phenomena which one can only view with sadness.  That these are so-called Catholics employed in official positions who live from their confession as Catholics, but whose flowing springs of Faith are in public almost completely silent, effectively in single drops.  We must really therefore strive that it becomes otherwise.  I observe in Italy -- where there are fewer institutional ecclesiastical businesses --, that initiatives do not occur for that reason, because the Church built something as an institution, rather because the people were themselves faithful.  Spontaneous outbreaks don't come from an institution, rather they come from an authentic Faith."

The  letter published on  13. July by a  fifteen year old student  about abuses in religious education in a school in the Archdiocese of Salzburg have made an enormous echo with the readers of kath.net, who have been moved to write us.  Kath.net will then continue to publish further reports about religious instruction in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Kath.net asks its readers:  How is it with the religious education of your children?  How are things with your religion teacher? -- Please send us any short reports to redaktion@kath.net!  We would like to publish these extracts as well.


Read the original at kath.net...