SWITZERLAND

Any dispute about the Mass in latin

“Only if the Council is considered a grand evolution within the tradition, instead of a break from the tradition of the Church, and if the post-Council liturgical reform is similarly considered can the goal pursued by the Pope with his Motu Proprio be properly judged”. It was said by mgr. Kurt Koch, president of the […]

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Lustracja, need to be guided by charity

The document “Truth and Responsibility” was recently published by the theological and pastoral Commission “Memory and solicitude” of the archdiocese of Krakow, dedicated to the divulging of information on collaborators of the Communist secret services. The document, stressed the chairman of the Commission, Bishop Jan Szkodon, is aimed at tackling the risk “of compromising the […]

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Shops to be closed during main annual festivities

The trades-unionists of Solidarnosc have welcomed the introduction of a ban on commercial activities in the 12 days of the year that correspond to the main national and religious festivities. The provision will permit “shopkeepers to remain at home with their families and relax during those holidays”, said Alfred Bujara, chairman of the trades-union organization […]

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Auschwitz: memory, conscience and responsibility

Nobel Peace Prize-winner Elie Wiesel has proposed that a summit of the G8 be held at Auschwitz. He did so at the conference “Memory – Conscience – Responsibility”, held in recent days at the former Nazi concentration camp in Poland. According to Wiesel, who also hoped for a session of the UNO at Auschwitz, “the […]

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POLAND

46% of Catholics go to Sunday Mass

46% of Polish Catholics attended Sunday Mass and 16% took the Eucharist in 2006. The figures are reported by the Institute of Statistics of the Catholic Church in Poland. According to the experts, the faith of the Polish people, strongly rooted in society, has not changed following the discovery among the clergy of some collaborators […]

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Bulgaria: school of volunteer service

The Balkan summer school for volunteers was held in Russe, capital of the diocese of Nicopoli, from 2 to 6 July. Organized by the local Caritas, the summer school was attended by representatives from Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria. The focal points of the course were such questions as the insertion of volunteers in […]

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Portugal: youth for mission

In Portugal, the number of organizations that dedicate themselves exclusively to the realization of missionary projects and development aid is growing: there are now 41 of them, including religious congregations and Christian aid organizations. The number of young people who support these missionary volunteer services is also growing from year to year: 260 youth have […]

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Spain: document on the Catholic school

The Spanish bishops, “conscious of the importance of education and the difficulties that is going through at the present time”, have published, in recent days, a document with the title “The Catholic School. The Church’s offer in Spain for education in the 21st century”. According to the bishops, “at the start of this new century […]

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Belgium: exhibition of icons and youth clubs

An exhibition of over 100 icons produced over the last ten years by the Salesian iconographic workshop at Farnières was inaugurated in recent days in the Don Bosco Centre of Spirituality at Grand-Halleux, in Belgium. The workshop, directed by Sister Hilda Cartigny, is attended by many youngsters who are introduced to the basic techniques of […]

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France: World Missionary Week

World Missionary Week will be celebrated in France from 14 to 21 October. It will culminate in World Missionary Day on Sunday, 21 October. News of the missionary week is carried by the Fides international press agency, which reports that all parishes and movements in France, each according to its own ecclesial role, are invited […]

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