switzerland " "

Risk of isolation” “

A referendum on the enlargement of the free circulation of persons also from the ten new accession countries that entered the European Union on 1st May 2004 is due to be held in Switzerland on Sunday 25 September. A second ballot is due to be held on 27 November on two further referendums: safeguards on […]

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Observers and new website for the EP” “

Two innovations are about to be made to the European Parliament. First, the EP will welcome 18 Bulgarian and 35 Romanian “observers”, starting from the next plenary session, scheduled to be held in Strasbourg from 26 to 29 September. It will be the first official presence of representatives of the candidate countries that are due […]

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Borrell: "The future Union, torn between symbols and reality"” “

“The European project is faced by a crucial phase. We need a new vision of the future: a vision that may bring new signs and that has meaning for the young”, declared the President of the European Parliament, Josep Borrell, addressing a seminar on the future of European integration in the Spanish city of Santander […]

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Eu seeks common strategy against terrorism” “

Franco Frattini, European Commissioner for Justice, Liberty and Security, addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday 7 September to present a reinforced Community action plan against the threat of terrorism. It is “founded on three major lines of attack: prevention, protection, reaction”. Present together with Frattini in Strasbourg was British Home Minister Charles Clarke, […]

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Refugees" "

Less asylum seekers ” “” “

The trend towards a gradual reduction of the number of asylum applications presented in the 36 industrialized countries, which began in 2002, is continuing. The finding emerges from the statistical report “Asylum levels and trends in industrialized countries second quarter, 2005”, presented by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday 6 September. Overall, […]

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England: a handbook on evangelization” “

How to meet and reach out to those persons who are not members of the Church but who are spiritually open: that’s the aim of the handbook “Equipping your Church in a Spiritual Age” written by the Group for evangelization which works in the framework of “Churches Together” in which Case, the Catholic Agency to […]

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Spain: Caritas of Barcelona and child gangs” “

Many thefts perpetrated by child gangs have taken place in Barcelona during the summer, creating friction with tourists and with the local population. While the municipal authorities are trying to resolve the situation, Caritas in Barcelona and other NGOs and trades-unions are asking that “light be thrown on the origin of the problem and that […]

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Switzerland: talks with Islam” “

An Iranian delegation of the “Islamic Culture and Relations Organisation” (ICRO) will visit Switzerland from 27 to 30 September. It will be received by the committee of work on “Islam” of the Swiss Bishops’ Conference, and hold meetings in Zurich, Bern, Lausanne and Geneva. Lastly the delegation will participate in a series of talks at […]

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christians in europe visible" "

Co-responsible citizens” “

The Church and Christians must “be” in Europe, because “Christianity is the only really unifying factor between the various European countries” and “it would be a political falsification” to wish to reduce the faith to a “private” fact, “irrelevant” for society at large, said Archbishop GIOVANNI LAJOLO , Vatican Secretary for relations with States, in […]

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Ireland: appeal to the government "for 0.7% of GDP" to the developing countries” “

The archbishop of Armagh and primate of Ireland, Sean Brady, together with the bishop of Clonfert, John Kirby, and the auxiliary bishop of Dublin, Raymond Field, presented a pastoral letter of the bishops on international development in Dublin in recent days. In their letter, with the title “Towards the global common good”, the bishops appeal […]

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