Amédée Grab, " "Bishop of Chur" "President of the Council of the european episcopal conferences - Ccee" "" "" "

editorial" "

The post-synodal exhortation Ecclesia in Europa, published almost four years after the Synod of 1999, forcefully reaffirms that the presence of Jesus Christ in his Church is the source of hope for our continent. The Pope speaks realistically of the dimming of hope that is circulating in our time. He grasps worrying signs in our […]

“A time to cooperate and a time to resist” is the title of the article by Fiorella Sultana de Maria, in the British Catholic weekly “The Catholic Herald” ( 18/7), dedicated to the “systematic destruction of the British Christian heritage”: “a process begun several decades ago – she explains – and conducted gradually and with […]

The European Mediator, Nikiforos Diamandouros, has asked the chairman of the European Convention, Valery Giscard d’Estaing, to permit public access to the documents of the Presidium of the Convention at the end of its work, which was in fact concluded on 10 July with the completion of the draft European Constitution presented in Rome on […]

The European Commission sent a formal request to the Netherlands, Ireland and Italy on 18 July, urging the three countries to integrate into their national legislations the EU regulations on the control of the dangers of accidents connected with certain dangerous substances. The regulations in questions are contained in Directive “Seveso II”, which aims at […]

During the conference on the campaigns against discrimination held in Milan on 21 July, the European Commissioner for employment and social affairs, Anna Diamantopoulou, expressed her concern about the fact that some member states have not yet absorbed into their national legislation the new EU rules on racial discrimination. The deadline fixed for their reception […]

biotechnologies" "

The debate on GMO – genetically modified organisms – continues, in a week in which the EU Agriculture Council approved the Regulation on the traceability and labelling of products containing GMOs, accompanied by the presentation of the new EU guidelines for the co-existence of GMO and GMO-free crops in selected EU areas (see page 12). […]

The foreign affairs Commission of the European Parliament adopted by a large majority the report of the Dutch liberal Van den Bos on the state of human rights in the world for 2002. The report hopes for the reinforcement and greater coherence of European policy on human rights, and calls for the Council’s greater involvement […]

" "media and minors" "

In Europe, how can juveniles be defended from violence and unsuitable images at the cinema, in TV or on the internet? The question is discussed in a study – presented in Rome last week – that examines the “Systems of cinematographic classification in France, Germany, the UK, Austria, Greece, Spain, Holland, in EU directives and […]

Eight Christian associations in France, including Secours Catholique and the Protestant Federation of France, set up the “Christian Assises for globalization” (ACM) over a year ago with the aim of expressing the Christian “voice” in the public debate on problems of globalization. ACM is an attempt to transcend differences in religious affiliation and social class […]

Promoted by the “Pro Oriente” Foundation, an informal group of Catholic-Orthodox dialogue founded by the distinguished Catholic expert in patristics, the Parisian Isabel de Andia, in 2001, an ecumenical theological colloquium was held in Vienna in recent weeks on “The Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. Charisms and institution”. Chaired by the archbishop […]