Mauro Ungaro Balkan policy expert briefed us on the issue

CROATIA-SLOVENIA

As relates to ex-Yugoslavia nothing is simple. Even former Finnish President Martii Ahtisaari has had to admit it. His unquestionable diplomatic skills – put into practice as UN mediator for the status of Kosovo that earned him the Nobel Peace Prize – weren’t enough to find a meeting point on the so-called “border question” between […]

POLAND

Crisis of vocationsA few days ago the meeting of the Permanent Council of Poland’s Bishops’ Conference (KEP) attended also by diocesan bishops, took place in the sanctuary of Jasna Gora on the occasion of the solemnity of the Mother of God Queen of Poland. Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone was the guest of honour. […]

CHURCH AND ECONOMIC CRISIS

Italy: a loan for hopeThe guarantee fund for families in difficulty, promoted by the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI) in cooperation with the Italian Banking Association (ABI), “is a response to the economic crisis that our country is going through, as an effect of the wider recession at the international level”, explained Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, President […]

CCEE

The 11th Congress of bishops and delegates of the Bishops’ Conferences for catechesis in Europe, promoted by the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE), ended in Rome on 7 May. Devoted to “The Christian community and first evangelization”, the congress, coordinated by the Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop designate of Westminster and CCEE […]

CCEE

“Contemporary world, most notably secularized and laicised Europe, need evangelisers” who choose to devote their life “to proclaiming Christ” since “the force of the Gospel doesn’t wear out”. But “our faith and our evangelising efforts” have weakened. Thus stated Cardinal Claudio Hummes, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy in his homily for the Mass […]

FRONT PAGE

EU27 citizens are called to cast their vote on June 5 to 7 for the renewal of the European Parliament in Brussels. How does this event involve the Catholic Church in Switzerland, which is not a Member Country? Recent findings by the Statistics Federal Bureau reveal that over one million EU citizens live in Switzerland, […]

“Testimoniare la verità del Vangelo, e cioè che la storia di Gesù di Nazareth non è un mito da demitizzare, o un messaggio in codice da decifrare, ma un evento da riconoscere, quello dell’ingresso dell’Eterno Verbo nella storia degli uomini”. È questo per padre David M.Jaeger, tra i massimi esperti delle relazioni tra Santa Sede […]

Per desiderio dei cattolici di Terra Santa, condiviso da papa Benedetto, la visita del Pontefice dall’8 al 15 maggio nei Luoghi Santi avrà carattere preminentemente pastorale. In Giordania il pellegrinaggio sarà concentrato intorno all’idea della Chiesa, a Gerusalemme sulla pace, a Betlemme sulla vita, a Nazareth sulla famiglia. Una scelta non casuale, legata com’è alla […]

UE - PREVISIONI ECONOMICHE

Prodotto interno lordo ancora in calo, aumento della disoccupazione in tutta Europa, inflazione ferma, nuovi squilibri nei conti pubblici statali: è il quadro che emerge dalla Previsioni economiche di primavera, rese note il 4 maggio a Bruxelles dal commissario agli affari monetari Joaquin Almunia. Il quale ha affermato: “Non siamo più in caduta libera, ma […]

CONSIGLIO D'EUROPA

Diritti dell’uomo, democrazia, stato di diritto: sono i tre punti fermi che caratterizzano il profilo del Consiglio d’Europa, il quale opera a livello continentale con 47 Paesi aderenti, 5 osservatori (fra cui la Santa Sede) e sessant’anni di storia alle spalle, essendo stato fondato il 5 maggio 1949 con il Trattato di Londra. Le celebrazioni […]