Redazione

France" "

Considering the increasing fragility of marital relationships, French bishops (Assembly of Lourdes 2002) express firm hope that “church marriages should not be considered consumer goods and an automatic right”. They are actually requesting “at least one year of preparation, because all too often, the bride and groom have no religious culture at all and ignore […]

Austria" "

The Central European Katholikentag, ecumenical social thought, the defence of life and the year of the family were the main points discussed at the general assembly of Austrian bishops, held at the Marian sanctuary of Mariazell in late June. The press release issued at the end of the meeting describes the Katholikentag, in particular, as […]

A pilgrimage along the “road of reconciliation”, bearing the Cross of World Youth Day, began on 1st July and is due to end at the end of August. The pilgrimage will take the cross, and bring the message to reconciliation, to many countries: Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The […]

“Memory of peace”: that’s the title of the pilgrimage made to Auschwitz in recent weeks by some 500 young people, including Jews, Moslems and Christians from Israel and Palestine, and French and Belgian youngsters from families born from mixed marriages. The pilgrimage was led by Father Emile Shoufani, Greek-Melkite priest and director of the Arab-Israeli […]

The 7th Forum of Churches Together in England (CTE), the largest and most representative association of English churches, will be held from 18 to 20 July. Over 300 representatives of the national churches, ecumenical organizations and local groups will meet together at Swanwick in Derbyshire. The Forum will be chaired by the chairmen of the […]

The first of the national pilgrimages organized as part of the Mitteleuropäische Katholikentag (congress of central European Catholics) was held in the Czech Republic in 4 July. The Katholikentag involves eight episcopates of central Europe and will conclude with the transnational pilgrimage to the Marian sanctuary at Mariazell, in Austria, on 22-23 May 2004. Its […]

After hosting the 12th KEK assembly in recent weeks, the Norwegian city of Trondheim is preparing to celebrate the 850th anniversary of the foundation of the Catholic archbishopric of Nidaros (the medieval name of the diocese, established in 1153). “The history of the Catholic presence in this area of Norway is complex – explains Msgr. […]

“Serbia and Montenegro await concrete steps by the European Union, such as bureaucratic and procedural concessions to facilitate the process of our country’s rapprochement with the nations that are already members of the EU”: the appeal is made by Archbishop Stanislav Hocevar, metropolitan of Belgrade, who recently intervened on the question of EU membership for […]

Vocational ministry especially means “prayer and formation, not the recruitment of candidates for seminaries”; “each member of the Church has a call, and it is the task of the pastoral ministry to help each to discover what his/her own place in the Church is”; “vocational pastoral work needs to be closely integrated in the new […]

European churches" "

Only great collaboration and shared responsibility between priests and laity will be able to guarantee a future to the parish and overcome the current crisis: that is the conclusion of the recent European Colloquium of the parishes (ECP), held in Fribourg (Switzerland) from 4 to 10 July, with the participation of 250 delegates from all […]