We present a calendar of the main events involving the Catholic Church and the other Christian Churches in May. 1 Entry into the European Union of ten new member countries: Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus and Malta, in Dublin International Labour Day. 3 Feast of the Madonna “Regina Poloniae” in Poland, – Plenary Assembly (3-7) of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, in Madrid. 4 Ceremonies marking the 1,700th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Florian (4 May 304) in Austria, at the Augustinian abbey of Sankt Florian, in the diocese of Linz and in the Land of Upper Austria. 5 12th Symposium of Historical Theology (5-7) promoted by the Faculty of Theology “San Vicente Ferrer” of Valencia, on the theme “The martyrdom of St. Vincent: servant and witness”. 6 Plenary session (6-13), of the mixed work group between the Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches (WCC), at the Orthodox Academy of Crete (Greece). 7 Eucharistic liturgy concluding the celebrations for the 1,700th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Domnius, at Spalato (Split), in Croatia, in 304 AD. 8 Ecumenical meeting at Stuttgart, in Germany, on the theme “Together for Europe” with the participation of Catholic, Evangelical, Orthodox and Anglican movements and communities from throughout the continent. 9 Day of Europe on the theme “Unity in diversity” Commemoration of the 4th centenary of the arrival in Lithuania of the Brief of Pope Clement VIII “Quae ad sanctorum”, authorising the celebration of the Feast of St. Casimir in Poland and in Lithuania, at Vilnius; Inauguration of “Forum 2004”, at Barcelona (Spain), international event organized by the town council and by the autonomous Government of Catalonia with the contribution of UNESCO. 11 Extraordinary plenary assembly (11-13) of the french episcopal Conference, at Lourdes 15th European television festival of religious programmes (11-16), at Warsaw, organised by SIGNIS, the International Catholic Association for Communication and the International Association for Christian Communication “Day of Romanian Religious Spirituality”, organised by the Embassy of Romania to the Holy See, at the Pontifical Lateran University. 12 57th International Film Festival at Cannes (12-23). 13 5th World Conference on poverty of information (13-14), promoted by the European Parliament in collaboration with international institutions and Italian and foreign universities. 15 Second preparatory meeting for the Symposium of the Bishops of Africa and Europe, in Rome, planned to be held in the Italian capital on 10-14 November 2004, and organised jointly by the Council for the Episcopal Conferences of Europe (CCEE) and the Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM). 16 First World Forum of Human Rights (16-19), organised by the French city of Nantes and dedicated to the memory of Sergio Vieira de Mello, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, killed in Baghdad on 19 August 2003. 20 Award of the “Charlemagne” International Prize to the President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, in the German city of Aachen. 22 “Pilgrimage of Peoples” (22-23) to the Austrian sanctuary of Mariazell, in Steiermark, on the conclusion of the “Katholikentag of Mitteleuropa”. 23 Election of the German President by the Bundestag, in Berlin. 28 Audience of the Pope to the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Anton Rop. 30 Pilgrimage to Genazzano (Rome), to the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Buon Consiglio, protectress of Albania, by the Albanian community in Italy. 31 Pro-Life Day, being held at the national level by the Scottish Bishops’ Conference.
