Redazione

“An attempt to discredit my person and the Catholic Church in Slovakia”: that how Bishop Jan Sokol of Bratislava-Trnava has reacted to the accusation of having collaborated with the Czechoslovak Communist regime, made in recent days by the Institute of National Memory in Slovakia, the state organization that analyses the crimes of Communism. According to […]

In Spain the pupils who have opted for Catholic religious education in public and private schools amount to 79.3% (equivalent to 3,507,986 of the total 4,421,425). The figures, referring to the 2004-2005 school year, were published in recent days by the Bishops’ Commission for teaching and catechesis, which publishes an annual report on the option […]

Similarities and diversities between the countries of Central/Eastern and those of Western Europe, between the Churches, and between societies, were examined at the meeting of the heads of the Bishops’ Conferences of Central and Eastern Europe, held in Budapest from 12 to 14 February. Theme of the meeting: “What Christian concept of man today?”. “The […]

Each year, on 17 and 18 February, Belorussian Catholics, both of the Latin and Byzantine rites, go on pilgrimage to the village of Rositsa, on the border with Latvia and close to the Russian frontier, to commemorate the martyrs of the 2nd World War, when the Nazis, during a reprisal against the civilian population of […]

Sister Lucia is “a national symbol”, an example of “simplicity and fidelity”: that’s how Cardinal José Policarpo, Patriarch of Lisbon, defined the seer of Fatima in his homily during the funeral that took place at Coimbra on 15 February (a day of national mourning). The cathedral was packed with thousands of faithful, and many more […]

“Xenophobic declarations of war”: that’s how Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue, head of the office for immigration policy within the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, recently defined the five-year plan of the government and the response of the Conservative opposition to immigration and political asylum. In the bishop’s view, the two main parties in the UK […]

Cardinal Camillo Ruini, president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, has appealed for the concept of an “enlarged Europe”, consisting essentially of “five poles”, to be taken seriously. The five poles are: European Union, North America, Russia, South America, Australia and New Zealand. Ruini made his appeal during the 13th national Conference of pastoral theology sponsored […]

Social situation, stability and solidarity are some of the main themes to be discussed during the annual meeting of the Bishops’ Conferences of Southeast Europe, which will be held in Sarajevo from 25 to 27 February. The meeting is being organized by the Council of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe (CCEE) and the Episcopal Conference […]

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A short document prepared by the Church and Society of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the secretariat of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (COMECE) reviews the status of the process of Turkey’s bid to enter the EU. It also contains a reflection on the attitude within the Churches to Turkey’s […]

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Last December the European Union authorized the start of negotiations with Turkey with a view to its possible entry into Europe. Turkey is the heir of a great empire with a rich civilization; for centuries its capital Istanbul (Constantinople) was among the most splendid of the European continent and gave rise to the meeting between […]