France: union of the Protestant churches of Alsace

The Union of the two main Protestant churches of Eastern France was celebrated with a solemn rite in the church of Saint-Thomas in Strasbourg on Sunday 7 May, in the presence of a thousand or so faithful. The Church of the Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine (ECAAL) is the majority Protestant church in the […]

di Redazione

Germany: when football becomes “ecumenical”

Eight Protestant pastors against eight Muslim imams in a match controlled by three Jewish referees: when football matches of this kind are organized, the final result clearly takes second place. Just for the record, however, the Protestant team won 12 to 1. The unusual ecumenical match – promoted by the Ecumenical Council of the Churches […]

di Redazione

Kosovo: Christians, Jews and Muslims for peace

A meeting of leaders of the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Churches, in which Muslim and Jewish exponents in Kosovo also took part, was held in the Serb Orthodox monastery of Peja (Pristina). The meeting was held to promote peaceful multiethnic and multi-religious co-existence in the country, and ended with the signing of a joint declaration […]

di Redazione

ECUMENISM

Anglican Communion: 4 wise men for Williams

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Primate of the Church of England and leader of the Anglican Communion that comprises 77 million faithful throughout the world, has appointed four wise men and given them the task of advising him in the weeks ahead. This is a particularly delicate time for Williams and for the Anglican […]

di Redazione

CCEE - CATECHESIS

With God’s patience

“The considerable effort put into the act of Christian initiation and catechesis cannot achieve its objective if it is not supported and accompanied by the community”, said Bishop CESARE NOSIGLIA of Vicenza and CCEE delegate for catechesis in Europe, in his concluding remarks to the meeting of bishops and national directors for catechesis in Europe, […]

di Redazione

POLAND

Awaiting Benedict XVI

There’s a climate of great expectation for the first pastoral visit of Benedict XVI, who will leave Rome for Warsaw on Thursday morning, 25 May, and remain in Poland till Sunday 28 May. Apart from the capital, the papal journey will take in – among others – Czestochowa, Krakow, and Wadowice (birthplace of Karol Wojtyla). […]

di Redazione

Russia: Bible and media

On May 20-21 in the context of the Year of the Holy Bible which is held in Russia in 2006 the Biblical ecclesiological Symposium will take place. The participants of the event will make the reports on the following themes: “Synodal translation of the Holy Scripture” (G. Yastrebov, St. Andrew’s Biblical Theological Institute), “The Bible […]

di Redazione

Ucraina: Family and children

On May, 7 in Kiev the all-Ukrainian Congress of “Mother in prayer” Christian groups took place. Representatives of all Ukrainian exarchates and dioceses and the guests from abroad participated in the event. This meeting gather together 200 persons. They prayed in the Patriarchal Cathedral at matins and liturgy celebrated by Right Reverend fr. Bogdan (Dzurakh). […]

di Redazione

Romania: people’s mission and listening centres

The people’s mission of Târgu Jiu, promoted by Father Petru Husariu, parish priest of the church of St. John Capestrano and assigned to the oblate Missionaries of Mary Immaculate (OMI), ended on 7 May (it opened on 30 April). Various testimonies were published by the Fides international agency at the end of the mission: “One […]

di Redazione

Austria: bikes for catechists in the southern hemisphere

With a collection called “Delegados de la Palabra”, the Catholic organization MIVA (Missions-Verkehrs-Arbeitsgemeinschaft) intends to support catechists in the young Churches in Africa and Latin America, where most parishes to which they are assigned cover very extensive territories, with many widely separated villages. In these villages it is especially lay catechists who devote themselves to […]

di Redazione