Redazione

The European Union regards “the trafficking of human beings as a crime against the person, with the object of that person’s exploitation”: on the basis of this conviction, a seminar was held in Helsinki on Tuesday 31 October, “in the framework of the EU Action Plan to combat the trafficking” of children, women and men, […]

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

A clear message to the “last European dictator” Alexander Lukashenko: that’s how the decision taken by the European Parliament to award the Sakharov Prize 2006 to the leader of the opposition in Belarus, Alexander Milinkevich, was interpreted in Strasbourg. Last week’s plenary session of the EP was full of events and commemorations, and a number […]

SACRED SPACES IN EUROPE

The liturgical building is, now more than ever, an integral part not just of the geographical, but also of the historical and social context: that is the thesis that emerged from the 4th international conference on “Architecture and Liturgy in the Twentieth Century. European experiences compared”, held in Venice on 26/27 October. The church building […]

“Jews and Protestants, between complicity and incomprehension, what future for our relations?” is the theme of a conference held in Paris in recent weeks, as part of the programme “Church and Israel”. “I am disturbed whenever the fundamental right to existence of the State of Israel is placed in doubt – observed rabbi Rivon Krygier […]

“The freedom of Bossey permits people to tackle in an open and constructive way some of the most painful questions debated by the Churches and religious communities and this, in our time, is really necessary”, said pastor Konrad Raiser, former general secretary of the WCC (World Council of Churches), in an address celebrating the 60th […]

ECUMENISM

“The secular media reveal great ignorance about and suspicion for religion. The religious institutions, for their part, show lack of trust in the media and do not seem able to understand the foundations of journalism and the challenges of modern information technology”, said the Portuguese journalist António Marujo in Lisbon in recent days, in his […]

GREECE

“Promoting the vocational ministry, and identifying the right approach to dialogue with the Catholic episcopates of the various rites” and “with the Orthodox Church”: these were the main priorities indicated by BENEDICT XVI to the Greek bishops whom he received in audience in the Vatican on 30 October on their “ad limina” visit. The Pope […]

The birth has been announced of the first Christian political party, which will present itself at the elections for the Scottish Parliament in May 2007. The Scottish Christian People’s Alliance was founded by former Labour activist Theresa Smith. Its agenda is to defend the family against a government that, according to Smith, “listens to the […]

Solidarity with their confrere, Jesuit Father László Vértesaljai, who was beaten up by the police during the demonstrations in Budapest on 23 October, was expressed by the Hungarian province of the Society of Jesus, in a statement dated 27 October and signed by Father Jànos Lukacs, provincial superior of the Jesuits. Our confrere, says the […]

“The Church in Poland asks for no privilege, but demands respect for the autonomy guaranteed to her by the Constitution and the Concordat”, declare the Polish bishops, in a statement issued at the end of their plenary assembly, held in Warsaw on 18-19 October. They explain the decision to institute an Historical Commission that, “in […]