Bavaria’s regional government has ordered crosses to be placed at the entrances of all state administrative buildings. The state’s conservative administration said that the crosses should reflect Bavaria’s “cultural identity and Christian-Western influence.” The decree was passed on April 24th and won’t apply to federal government buildings in Bavaria.

The predominantly Catholic state’s public schools and courtrooms are already obliged to display crosses at entrances. Bavaria is governed by the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian partners of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats who tend to be more conservative on social issues. The decision comes after last September’s federal election, which saw a rise in support for the anti-immigration and populist Alternative für Deutschland.

Horst Seehofer, former CSU premier of Bavaria and now Germany’s interior minister, has pressed Merkel’s government for tighter immigration controls. Following the re- election of Viktor Orban in Hungary earlier this month, Seehofer warned that the European Union had displayed “arrogance and paternalism” to states like Hungary.

Pope Francis and his interna- tional Council of Cardinals have reviewed a complete draft of the apostolic constitution that would govern the Roman Curia, the Vatican spokesman said.

The cardinals still need some time to finalise the draft, approve it and present it formally to the Pope for “further consultation and final approval,” said Greg Burke, director of the Vatican press office. Even the title of the document has not been finalised, he said on April 25th, although the entire project revolves around the idea of a “church that goes out.” Much of the Council of Cardinals’ work 23-25 April was dedicated to “re-reading the draft of the new apostolic constitution on

the Roman Curia,” Burke said. The draft document emphasises four points, he said: the Roman Curia is at the service of the Pope and the local churches throughout the world; the work of the Curia must have a pastoral character; particulars on the role and functioning of the new section in the Vatican Secretariat of State to oversee the training, assigning and ministry of Vatican nuncios and diplomats around the world; and the proclamation of the Gospel and a missionary spirit must characterize the activity of the Curia.

On April 4, 2018, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, announced in a statement the forthcoming creation of a personal parish for migrants and refugees in Israel. Father Rafic Nahra, the current coordinator for the pastoral among migrants, explains in an interview with the Media Office the reasons for this creation. He said “it is about 60,000 faithful, half of whom are from the Philippines. The other communities are Indians, Sri Lankans and Eritreans. Other communities are also present but in smaller numbers: French-speaking Africans, Romanians and Poles. Migrants are people who, for the most part, have fled difficult economic situations in their home country and have come for work in Israel. Asylum seekers have fled war or dictatorship and currently have no confidence in their future in Israel.” A personnel parish is being established on May 20.

In an effort to reach out to local people, a German Catholic priest from the Diocese of Limburg has adopted the habit of taking a weekly train journey during which he makes himself available to chat to other passengers. Father Olaf Linden-berg has experienced enormous success with his simple idea of setting out to meet people while he travels on local trains.

Nearly every Tuesday he boards the 6.55 a.m. train between Limburg and Frankfurt-am-Main.

Over 5.1 million babies were born in the European Union (EU) in 2016. In eight of the 28 Member States, the majority of babies were born outside marriage, while in eight other member States two-thirds of babies were born to married parents.

With six in every ten babies born to unmarried parents, France had the largest proportion (59.7%) of live births outside marriage in the EU in 2016. France was closely followed by Bulgaria and Slovenia (both 58.6%). More than half of births also occurred outside marriage in Estonia (56.1%), Sweden (54.9%), Denmark (54.0%), Portugal (52.8%) and the Netherlands (50.4%).

In contrast, fewer than 1 in 10 babies were born to unmarried parents in Greece (9.4%). Births outside marriage also accounted for a quarter or fewer of all babies born in Croatia (18.9%), Cyprus (19.1%) and Poland (25.0%), and for under a third of babies born in Lithuania (27.4%), Italy (28.0%), Romania (31.3%) and Malta (31.8%).

Compared with the situation in 2000, the proportion of live births outside marriage rose in all Member States, albeit to different extents.

On the one hand, the propor- tion of babies born out of wedlock has grown significantly in Mediterranean Member States. It has increased eightfold in Cyprus (from 2.3% in 2000 to 19.1% in 2016). It has tripled in Malta (from 10.6% to 31.8%) and Italy (from 9.7% to 28.0%), while it is now about 2.5 times higher in Spain (from 17.7% to 45.9%), Greece (from 4.0% to 9.4%) and in another southern Member State: Portugal (from 22.2% to 52.8%).