Michel Camdessus, " "president of the French Social Weeks" "" "

editorial" "

The 77th social week in France will be held in Paris from 15 to 17 November on the theme: “Violence. How to live with it?”. Michel Camdessus, president of the French “Social Weeks” has made the following reflections available to SirEurope. With the Convention on the future of Europe and the forthcoming enlargement of the […]

The Commissions of the European Parliament will meet in Brussels from 4 to 7 November 2002. The main points on the agenda are as follows: ·Right to be joined by family members (Commission for liberties and citizens’ rights, justice and internal affairs, rapporteur: Cerdeira Monteremo); · Judicial cooperation: divorce and responsibility of parents (Commission for […]

agenda" "

In the course of last week the following legislative acts and communications, among others, came into force: · Explanatory report on the Protocol of the Convention of 2000 relating to judicial assistance in penal matters between member states of the European Union (Text approved by the Council of 14/10/2002) (OGEC C 257/1, 24/10/2002); · Auditing […]

press review" "

The tragedy of the Dubrovka Theatre in Moscow, after the irruption of the terrorists fighting for an independent Chechnya, and their repression by the Soviet special forces, monopolizes the attention of the main international dailies, which question the methods and scale of Putin’s reaction. “At least 115 of the hostages in Moscow have been gassed […]

“In the worst period of the war and still today we strive to work for reconciliation among our peoples and citizens, we strive to work for the promotion of ecumenism and dialogue” to heal “the wounds of conflict”. That’s how Franjo Topic, president of the Croatian cultural association Napredak (Progress), summed up the mission of […]

The youth of the diocese of Paris have organized themselves to “defend the feast of All Saints” which has been disappearing in recent years, supplanted by the more popular festivity of Halloween. To mark the feast of All Saints they will distribute throughout the city 150,000 copies of the special number of the diocesan paper, […]

German Caritas and other Church-run humanitarian organizations protested in recent days against the intention of the new Schröder government to abolish the tax-deductible status of charitable donations by firms. “ The consolidation of the state finances must not be obtained to the detriment of solidarity“, said Hellmut Puschmann, president of German Caritas. “The great willingness […]

in brief" "

At the end of their plenary assembly held in Krk from 20 to 23 October, the Croatian bishops issued a final communiqué in which they make some reflections on the post-war situation. “With all due gratitude to the international institutions – declares the Croatian Episcopal Conference – for everything they have done to put an […]

history" "

“Your private life also needs to be in keeping with the principles you maintain in public life”: Alcide De Gasperi’s admonishment to the parliamentary group of Christian Democrats in Italy’s constituent Assembly after the war epitomizes the sense of the inspiration that ought to inspire and sustain Christian involvement in politics: “a witness based on […]

bioethics" "

“On the confines of life: the relations between science, ethics and law” was the theme of an international conference held in Rome on 25 and 26 October. At the centre of attention: the attacks on life represented by abortion and euthanasia, genetic manipulations on human embryos and the diffusion of an “aseptic” view of healthcare, […]