European University Chaplains to Discuss Future of Pastoral Care

|TOP|University chaplains from all across Europe will gather in Switzerland this weekend to examine the current state of pastoral care in Europe’s universities and the future of university pastoral work.

The Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales is among the 11 Bishops’ Conferences in total from across Europe that will be represented at the Co-ordinating Group of the European Committee of University Chaplains taking place in St Gallen from Apr 28th to 30th.

The meeting has been coordinated by the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) and will also welcome contributions from the Bishop of St Gallen, His Lordship Mgr Ivo Fuerer, and delegate of the European Federation of Catholic Universities (FUCE), Fr Enrique Climent.

Committee Co-ordinator Mgr Lorenzo Leuzzi will welcome Mgr Fuerer in his opening address on ‘The pastoral situation in the university world in Switzerland’ before an evening reflection from the CCEE’s General Secretary, Mgr Aldo Giordano, on ‘The role and task of the CCEE in the sphere of university pastoral work in Europe’.

|AD|One of the leading figures in university chaplain work in Germany, the Rev Juergen Janik, will follow the opening day’s addresses with an exploration of ‘The Prospects of university pastoral work following World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne’.

Further talks throughout the 3-day conference will give delegates the opportunity to further contemplate the future of university pastoral work.

Additional speakers include Fr Augustin Del Agua, leader of university pastoral work in Spain, and Mgr Sergio Lanza, professor at the Pontifical Lateran University, who will speak under the title ‘Towards a European meeting of university professors’.

Delegates will also consider the significance of the Fifth European University Day and the role that can be played by university chaplains across the continent in the event, as well as the next meeting of national delegates involved in university pastoral work to be held in Rome from Sept. 28th to Oct. 1st 2006.

A special paper on ‘University students and university pastoral work’ will also be presented at the conference by Mgr Bruno Stenco, Director of the Italian Bishops’ Conference National Office for Education, Schools and Universities.