AFTER THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS " "

With the sense of mystery” “

“The Eucharist: source and culmination of the life and mission of the Church”: that was the theme of the 11th ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops held in the Vatican from 2 to 23 October. Three weeks of work attended by over 250 Synodal Fathers from all over the world, to mark the […]

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WYD: statue of St. Boniface and DVD ” “

The President of the German Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, presented Benedict XVI with a bronze statue of St. Boniface in the Vatican on 21 October. Lehmann expressed “gratitude and great joy” at being able to donate the statue to the pope two months after the end of WYD in Cologne. On the previous day, […]

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Caritas against euthanasia” “

“Caritas rejects the current tendencies to legalise active euthanasia”, declared the President of German Caritas, Peter Neher, at Freiburg on 21 October. Neher also welcomed the decision of the Federal Minister for Health, Ulla Schmidt, to increase investments for the development of palliative treatments. “Declarations like that of the senator of Hamburg for justice, Roger […]

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Less apostasies ” “

A substantial drop in the number of apostasies and a growth of faithful who return to the Catholic Church: that is the most significant finding of the document “Fundamental data of ecclesial life in German dioceses for 2004”, published on 21 October. 9,004 faithful rejoined the Catholic Church during the year, almost double the figure […]

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GERMANY" "

A clear sign of faith ” “

The liturgical institutes of Germany, Austria and Switzerland published a brochure containing ten models and aids for the commemoration of the dead in parishes on 21 October. The models, which represent various situations (especially tragic cases, the death of newborn infants, death at advanced age, and commemoration of the dead on the feast of All […]

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UKRAINE " "

The faith of a people” “

“Today finally the government no longer raises obstacles to the pastoral activity of our Church. We have 21 eparchies (dioceses) and 30 bishops in the country: a result that would have been unimaginable ten years ago”. Bishop STANISLAV PADEWSKI of Kharkiv-Zaposirhia has expressed moderate satisfaction about the present situation of the Church in his country […]

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Spain: 40th anniversary of "Nostra Aetate”” “

A commemorative act to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the conciliar declaration “Nostra Aetate”, on dialogue between Catholics and Jews, will be held in Madrid on 28 October, on the initiative of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, in collaboration with the Federation of Jewish communities in Spain. The aim of the event is to “recall that […]

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Ireland: anti-sex abuse committee” “

A new national committee of the Church for the protection of childhood was announced by the Irish Church on 25 October, following the publication of the Report of Mr Justice Frank Murphy on the sexual abuse perpetrated on children by some priests in the diocese of Ferns. “No one who is a danger to children […]

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Italy: 1st meeting of teachers of religion” “

The 1st meeting of teachers of Catholic religion (TCR) was held in Rome in early October, on the initiative of the Service for the Teaching of Catholic Religion of the Italian Bishops’ Conference. Attended by over 700 participants representing over 20,000 TCR throughout Italy, its title was: “TRC: a cultural contribution to the education of […]

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France: "Holywins" for 15,000 youth” “

Some 15,000 youngsters are expected to attend “Holywins” in Paris on Monday, 31 October. “Holywins” is a youth festival with rock concert organized by the archdiocese of the French capital and now in its fourth year. Throughout the day groups of youngsters will go through the streets of the city to meet its inhabitants and […]

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