At the service of the Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal and Malta

After the conclusion of the Ad Limina Visits in the Italian regions and following the Visit of Japan in April, some European Conferences of Bishops met with the Dicastery in May.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: co-responsibility of the laity in the Church and in society, through families

The Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina still bears the scars of the war that officially ended in 1995. Many Catholics migrated and never returned to their country. On the contrary, the Catholics who remained are very attached to spiritual life and live faith very profoundly. This brings renewed hope and pastoral proposals for the laity to also encourage them to take an active and responsible role in the construction of the Christian community.

In recent years, pastoral care of the family has strengthened its organizational structures, but it also invested in the formation of priests and the laity to work with families (through specialized studies in the field of Theology of Marriage and Family, and Psychology). The pastoral care of the family sets its key objective to shift from the concept of pastoral care for families to the concept of pastoral care for and with families, where spouses and the families themselves become the object of this area of pastoral care.

Youth at the top of the Portuguese Church’s agenda

The topic of youth has been at the top of the Portuguese Church’s agenda in recent years as the country was selected to host the International Youth Day in 2023. Following the unforgettable experience of the 2023 IYD, which gave everybody the absolute certainty that God is present and working in young people’s lives, the pastoral care of youth gained even more value, priority and urgence. Bishops are aware of the Church’s difficulties in attracting the interest of youth, and religious practice in the country is decreasing considerably.

The Portuguese pastoral care of youth is entering a new phase of renewal to be more synodal, crosscutting and vocational. In Portugal, as in many other parts of the world, the elderly population is increasing remarkably fast. This is also why dioceses welcomed the announcement of the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, which they have been celebrating since its first edition: “It is an opportunity to recall the inestimable value the elderly bring to our society.” However, there is an urgent need to create a real intergenerational culture, a culture made of dialogue between different generations.

The topic of human life in pastoral action in Malta

The Conference of Bishops organizes information campaigns, a march for life and several other awareness-raising initiatives during the National Day for Life to spread a culture of life following the teachings of the Church.

The faculty of Theology in Malta has a Professional Ethics Platform that offers three different Masters of Arts in Bioethics. These courses are open to all professionals regardless of their religious belief. Special attention is given to the formation of couples as part of marriage preparation. Formation on sexuality and parenthood according to the teachings of the Catholic Church is also available.