From 25 to 27 April 2023, the annual meeting of the CCEE National Directors for Catechesis took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
The theme of the meeting, which was attended by 26 participants, including bishops and national delegates from 20 European countries, was “The parish community as a place of the culture of encounter and encounter with culture”. Among the participants were H.E. Msgr. Gintaras Grušas, CCEE President, H.E. Msgr. Zbigņevs Stankevičs, President of the Evangelisation and Culture Commission, and Rev. Eugenio Bruno, Officer of the Vatican Dicastery for Evangelization.
The work started with greetings from H.E. Msgr. Đuro Hranić, bishop responsible for the Catechesis Section and from H.E. Msgr. Alojzij Cvikl, Archbishop of Maribor and President of the Slovenian National Catechetical Office.
The first intervention was entrusted to Rev. Rene Camilleri, National Director Emeritus for Catechesis in the Archdiocese of Malta, who spoke about the parish in our contemporary culture, highlighting how the parish is called upon to change along with the culture in order to be more effective and to enter into dialogue with the culture of contemporary human beings.
The second intervention was from Msgr. Valentino Bulgarelli, National Director for Catechesis at the Italian Bishops’ Conference. He spoke regarding the parish community and lay ministries. Msgr. Bulgarelli also spoke about how the Italian bishops are trying to implement the ministry of the catechist in their dioceses. This was indeed providential since, in national reports, several countries expressed their difficulties in implementing this ministry.
During the meeting, the bishops and national delegates had the opportunity to present reports from their respective Bishops’ Conferences focusing on examples of good practice in dialogue with contemporary culture and the implementation of the ministry of the catechist.
One session of the meeting was devoted to group work on two specific topics: the Courtyard of the Gentiles and how European Christian culture can be a source of catechesis.
During the days of the conference, participants also had the opportunity to learn more about the Church in Slovenia, its culture and history.
Attached are the texts of the speakers.
