Press release

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Completion of the work
PRESS RELEASE – 26 August 2012

The VI General Assembly of the International Form of Catholic Action, held in Iasi (Romania), on the theme “Lay Catholic Action Members: ecclesial and social co-responsibly”, has just come to an end. The meeting focused on the contribution which Catholic Action could give towards the new evangelization in the 50 Countries in the world, where CA is already a recognized organization or where it is still being established. During the IFCA Assembly, 2 new countries: the Central African Republic and Congo Brazzaville, were accepted as members.

The participants then proceeded to elect the 5 member countries to sit on the Secretariat, which is the organism which will implement the Assembly’s resolutions. The members elected on the Secretariat are Argentina, Burundi and Italy, which were reelected, and two newly elected member countries: Romania and Spain.

During the concluding celebration held in Iasi Cathedral, Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi, Archbishop Emeritus of Palermo affirmed that, “The world in which we live is characterized by obstructions and refusals, ways of thinking and of living where God is non-existent but also by openings and new possibilities of announcing the good news, which we should not ignore. In view of this, in his message to IFCA, the Pope invites us to be always on the alert to read the signs of the times so as to be”.

De Giorgi went on to say that, “We are called to announce the Gospel with new zeal, new methods and with new expressions, in order to help people to get to know Christ, to help them to encounter Him and to rediscover the beauty, the fascination and the ever new novelty of His Gospel”. Besides, we are called to announce the Gospel “not as individuals but together with all the other components of the Church.

The grace of communion renders our announcement credible and the strength of our common participation and of our coresponsibility makes it more appealing and effective, just as it was in the first Christian communities”. T

he Cardinal, who is a past General Assistant of the Italian Catholic Action and of IFCA, concluded by highlighting the most ecclesial CA’s characteristics, whereby the familiar relations between the laity and their pastors, laid down by the Council and reaffirmed by Benedict XVI in his message, make the mission more effective. CA’s long history, supported by the example of holy lay people and pastors, is a clear proof of this”.

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Opening session
PRESS RELEASE – Iasi 22 August 2012

The VI General Assembly of the International Forum of Catholic Action started in the afternoon in Iasi (Romania) with the participation of 170 participants on the theme “Lay Catholic Action members: ecclesial and social co-responsibility” (22-26 August).

The lay leaders and the Ecclesiastical Assistants, of 35 Countries from 4 continents, participated in a Liturgical Eucharistic Celebration, in the Latin Rite, presided over by the Diocesan Bishop, Mgr. Petru Gherghel, to celebrate the feast of the cathedral patron, Mary Queen of Heaven.

In Romania, 5% of the population is Catholic subdivided into 6 dioceses of the Latin Rite (Iasi, Bucarest, Alba Iulia, Timisoara, Oradea and Satu Mare) and 5 of the Byzantine Rite (Alba Iulia and Fagaras, Cluj-Gherla, Oradea, Maramures, Lugoj). There is also a small community of Catholics of the Armenian Rite with a personal Ordinary. Catholic Action was re-established in 1990 after a long break due to the occupation by the communist regime in 1948.

The majority of the members are young people between the ages of 14 and 30. Oana Tuduce, National President of CA in Romania said that, “the 45 year ‘gap’ in the life of the Catholic Church, which was re-established at unitary level in 2005, has deprived the Church of a generation of adults who have to be educated in the faith.

Today, our most urgent task is to form educators to care for children and youth. Support from IFCA and other Associations, with a long established history, is of the utmost importance in this field”. The Assembly in Iasi focused on CA’s commitment to educate and the specific contribution towards the new evangelization, which CA Associations all over the world are called to give.

The Assembly also celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the opening of Vatican Council II. Mgr. Florentin Crihalmeanu, Bishop of Cluj Napoca, reflected on the biblical icon of the disciples of Emmaus and on the verse, chosen as a subtitle for the Assembly: “They set out at once and returned to Jerusalem”.

He commented that this passage helps us to recall our Christian roots and to renew our Eucharistic identity. In this historic moment, it helps us to understand how, together with other Christian Communities, we can become witnesses of hope for Christians and non-Christians in the world today as Benedict XVI invites us to be”.

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Lay CA members: co-responsible in the Church and in society VI General Assembly Iasi
PRESS RELEASE – Rome 20 August 2012

Between the 22nd and the 26th of the coming August, the city of Iasi in Romania will become Catholic Action’s “world capital” as it will be hosting the VI General Assembly of the International Forum of Catholic Action.
35 representatives from different countries from 4 continents will be meeting to discuss the theme “Catholic Action Lay People: ecclesial and social co-responsibility”. The biblical icon of the disciples on their way to Emmaus “And they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem” (Lk, 13- 35) will be their inspiration.
With the help of a number of experts, these representatives will be reflecting on the contribution which Catholic Action can offer towards the new evangelization and how it can answer better to its special role in the Church as laid down in Vatican Council II whose 50th anniversary they will be commemorating during this Assembly.

After 25 years of existence, IFCA – set up in 1987 on the occasion of the Synod on the Laity -, the General Assembly will be the appropriate occasion to evaluate the work done during this past four-year term and to elect a new Secretariat, the institutional organ which will be responsible for carrying out the lines of action approved by the Assembly.

Romania – whose CA President, Oana Tuduce, will open the session – is among IFCA’s founder member countries. Acro – Acţiunea Catolică din România – was set up as a result of a common effort made by lay leaders and priest assistants of the Byzantine rite Church (Greek-Catholic) and the Latin rite Church and has been recognised by the Romanian Episcopal Conference since 2005. Today, Acro is a point of reference for all existing CA Associations in Eastern Europe and for the promotion of CA in this region.

During the Assembly in Iasi, the list of speakers includes Mgr. FranciscoJavier Lozano, Apostolic Nuncio in Romania, Mgr. Antonio Grappone, from the Pontifical Council for the Laity; Sandro Calvani, Director of the UNO Millennium Development Projects;; the Bishop of Iasi, Mgr. Petru Gherghel, the Auxiliary Mgr. Aurel Perca; the Bishop of Cluj Napoca, Mgr. Florentin Crihalmeanu; Mgr. Virgil Bercea, Bishop of Oradea, Episcopal Conference Delegate for the Laity and Vice President of the Episcopal Conference Commission of the European Community (COMECE) and other Romanian Bishops; the Archbishop Emeritus of Palermo, Card. Salvatore De Giorgi, a past Priest Assistant of the Italian Catholic Action and of IFCA.

Representatives of the IFCA Secretariat 2008-2012 will also be present: the coordinator Emilio Inzaurraga, National President of CA Argentina; Franco Miano, National President of CA Italy; Halina Szydelko, National President of CA Poland, Mgr. Domenico Sigalini, Bishop of Palestrina and General Ecclesiastical Assistant of the Italian Catholic Action and of IFCA, Mgr. Sotero Phamo, Bishop of Loikaw in Myanmar, Rev. Salvatore Niciteretse, Secretary of the Commission for the Apostolate of the Laity of Burundi and IFCA coordinator for Africa, Chiara Finocchietti, responsible for the Youth Coordination Group.