Redazione

The statement issued by the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity on 22 March to explain the reasons that led to the suppression of the title “Patriarch of the West” in the Pontifical Yearbook ( Annuario Pontificio ) has failed to convince Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria, representative of the Russian Orthodox Church to the […]

ECUMENISM AND DIALOGUE

The ecumenical movement is growing, as are also friendship and relations between the Churches: that’s what seems to emerge from a survey conducted by the World Council of Churches (WCC), published on 23 March as part of the “Handbook of Churches and Councils: Profiles of Ecumenical Relationships”. The document, which shows not only “the differences […]

HOLLAND

“Euthanasia conducted on the newborn is not a humane practice, and can only lead to a progressive erosion of the fundamental principle according to which each life is worthy of protection”, declares Bishop J.W. EIJK of Groningen, delegate of the Dutch Bishops’ Conference for questions of medical ethics. The law voted by the Dutch Parliament […]

Germany is following with particular attention the affair of the Afghan sentenced to death for having been converted to Christianity. For Abdul Rahman was converted during his period of residence in Germany. In the Frankfurter Rundschau (22/3), Stephan Hebel writes: “The Afghan Abdul Rahman risks becoming, at the price of his life, the symbol of […]

From 2.4% for January 2006 to 2.3% for February 2006: that’s the very slight variation registered for inflation in the Eurozone according to the Eurostat data published this week: in February last year inflation stood at 2.1%. On the other hand, the figure for the EU-25 remains unvaried; it has remained firm at 2.2% for […]

The 4th “European Business Summit” (EBS) was held in Brussels on 16-17 March. Attended by over 1500 European businessmen, the summit was promoted by UNICE (European Community Industrial Union) in collaboration with the European Commission, the Austrian Presidency of the European Council and various continental sponsors. Two main themes were on the order of the […]

The European trades unions and industry are at loggerheads over RSE, the social responsibility of enterprises. The European Trades-Union Federation (CES) has publicly expressed the “fear lest the negotiations on RSE be broken off”. It complains in particular of “unbalanced and unilateral” management that exclusively considers the opinion of businesses in the context of a […]

On the very day agreement was reached in the European Parliament on the draft Directive regarding company law to simplify procedures for the setting up of companies and for asset conservation and alteration, the European Commission presented a new initiative to facilitate business transmission and succession, especially for small and medium firms. Explaining the measure […]

social europe

Is a socially sustainable common project of development for Social Europe possible? The question was discussed at a recent conference in Rome promoted by the F. Ebert Foundation and the Eurispes Institute of Political, Economic and Social Studies. It was said among other things that “a Europe without politics is a Europe that is the […]

“Living and active and sharper” (“Lebendig und Kräftig und schärfer”) will be the slogan of the next Kirchentag, the biannual rally of German Protestants, which will be held at Cologne from 6 to 10 June 2007. The meaning of the motto, taken from Hebrews 4:12, was explained by the president of the Evangelical Church of […]