Id-Dinjità umana waqt kriżi ekonomika

The European Conference of Justice & Peace Commissions will meet from the 3^rd to the 7^th of October in Athens and Corinth for their annual International Workshop and General Assembly. The general theme of the meeting is “Human Dignity and Economic Crisis”. During the General Assembly, Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich from Luxemburg will take over from Bishop William Kenney, auxiliary bishop from Birmingham, as President of Justice and Peace Europe.  22 of the 30 European JP commissions will be represented in Athens. The event is organised in close cooperation with the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Church in Greece.

The opening conference of the International Workshop to be held in Athens will be given by Prof. Vassilis Karydis , the Greek deputy ombudsman. Furthermore the program includes a visit to a detention camp for migrants, encounters with unemployed and homeless people and discussions with representatives of political parties. A symbolic action is planned on the Areios Pagos hill, where St. Paul gave a sermon to the Athenians. 

The General Assembly of Justice and Peace Europe, which follows on the International Workshop, will be held in Corinth. It will see the transition of the presidency of the European Conference of Justice and Peace Commissions.  Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich from Luxemburg has been elected for a three years term starting in October 2014. In Corinth, he will take over from Bishop William Kenney, auxiliary bishop from Birmingham.

During the General Assembly delegates will evaluate the new cooperation with the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the EU (COMECE) which officially started at the beginning of the year. Furthermore, they will discuss the mission of Justice and Peace commissions fifty years after the publication of Gaudium et Spes, the pastoral constitution of the Vatican II which mentioned for the first time “that an organism of the universal Church be set up in order that both the justice and love of Christ toward the poor might be developed everywhere”. Delegates will also receive reports from the Council of Europe and the European Union. The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace will be represented at the General Assembly.