INTERCULTURE

From the periphery to the centre

Immemorially a frontier land, the area between the Alps and the Adriatic has found itself marginalized since the Second World War: one of the peripheries of Europe, at least of Western Europe. But now a new wind is blowing through the Alpine-Adriatic region: the EU enlargement of 2004 has led to the collapse of some […]

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Switzerland: fast of solidarity

He fasted on Sunday, 24 September, first day of the month of Ramadan, to show his solidarity with Muslim faithful: the gesture, reported by the APIC press agency, is that of the bishop of Swiss origin, Paul Hinder, now Apostolic Vicar of Arabia, who accompanied it with a letter addressed “to my Moslem friends”. In […]

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Belgium: for peace and justice

“Building a durable and stable peace”: that’s the invitation made to Muslims at the beginning of Ramadan by Bishop Guy Harpigny of Tournai, delegate for inter-religious dialogue within the Bishops’ Conference of Belgium. “This cooperation in favour of justice and civil liberties is the concrete basis of a sincere dialogue – writes the bishop in […]

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France: message of the bishops for Ramadan

A message to “express all the desire to continue to forge bonds of brotherhood and friendship everywhere, and particularly wherever living together is not easy due to the difficulties experienced by the young, violence and the rejection of those who are different in culture and religion” was sent today by the French bishops to the […]

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DIALOGUE WITH ISLAM

Russia: mutual knowledge as basis for mutual respect

“Faced by the challenges of the modern world we all have a need for sincere dialogue and collaboration to build a society based on mutual respect between the different religions and nationalities”, declared the President of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Sheik Ravil Gainutdin, and the archbishop metropolitan of Moscow, Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, during a […]

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England: debate on childhood

“Lack of family life and pressure to be successful in school exams are harming younger children”, said Archbishop Rowan Williams, Primate of the Church of England and leader of the Anglican Communion. The archbishop was participating in the debate on childhood that opened in England in recent days, after a letter to the Daily Telegraph […]

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Switzerland: Christians in prayer for Muslims

30 days of prayer for the Muslim faithful who are about to celebrate the period of Ramadan: that’s the initiative being promoted by the Swiss Evangelical Alliance. It began on 24 September (until 24 October) and is enjoying some success, as reported by a statement of the Alliance. No less than 28,000 copies of the […]

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Hungary: 6th assembly of the Protestant churches

The 6th general assembly of the Communion of the Protestant Churches in Europe (Cepe) was held in Budapest in recent days. It elected Pastor Thomas Wipf as its executive president. The theme chosen for the meeting, which was attended by 120 delegates from 105 churches, was “Deepening communion – the Protestant profile in Europe”. The […]

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Serbia: meeting in preparation for Sibiu 2007

A meeting of the Christian Churches of Serbia was held in Belgrade in recent days. Organized by the country’s Ecumenical Council of Churches, of which the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, two Evangelical Churches and the Protestant Church form part, the meeting had the title “Jesus Christ – light of the world, foundation and hope […]

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ECUMENISM

Cec: “towards a new energy age”

“Living in a new energy age” is the theme of the 6th Assembly of the European Christian Network for the Environment (ECEN) due to open today, 27 September, at Flämslätt (Sweden) and end on 1st October. Some 100 delegates, activists and guests from all over Europe will meet to formulate responses of European Christians and […]

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