A Vademecum (handbook) “for the pastoral care provided by Catholic parishes to non-Catholic Orientals”, that is, to the Orthodox present in Italy. The Vademecum edited by two Offices of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), namely the offices for ecumenism and dialogue, directed by Fr. Gino Battaglia, and for judicial affairs, guided by Mgr Adolfo Zambon, was published today at www.chiesacattolica.it. Principally aimed at parish priests, pastoral workers, and people in charge of Catholic educational institutions, the Vademecum is a well-structured collection of all the current regulations in the Catholic Church on the “good relationship” with the faithful belonging to different Orthodox Churches. The text is divided in two parts and consists of 78 paragraphs giving instructions on the sacraments (baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, unction of the sick), mixed marriages and the admission of the faithful to full communion with the Catholic Church. The directors of the two CEI offices explained that the reason behind the decision to create the Vademecum was the migration phenomenon that has strongly affected our country in recent years. According to the data released in 2009, the number of foreign citizens who regularly reside in Italy is estimated at approximately 4.5 million. Nearly half of the immigrants are Christian: among them the Orthodox faithful were estimated at about 1,130,000 in 2008.

© SIR - 2 march 2010