Germany " "

Difficult, not impossible” “” “

The plenary assembly of the ZdK (Zentralkomitee der deutschen Katholiken), the central committee of German Catholics, opens on 21 November. The Catholic lay organization is meeting for two days at Bonn-Bad Godesberg to reflect on the involvement of Catholic laity in the political life of the country, with particular reference to some issues of particular […]

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Turkey" "

Conquering without arms ” “

“We strongly deplore the terrible terrorist attack of 15 November, on the Jewish holy day of the Sabbath. May God be full of mercy for the dead and grant a speedy recovery to the injured. We present our condolences to you personally and to the Jewish community”. That’s the text of the letter sent by […]

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Islam-Christianity" "

Dialogue isn’t improvised” “

Helping the Churches to tackle the challenges of the meeting with Muslims: with this objective, the Council of the European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) and the Conference of the Churches in Europe (CEC-KEK) have published a joint document drawn up by the “Islam in Europe” committee, composed of members of the two church organizations. The text […]

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Consultation on the Charta Oecumenica” “

“Monitoring the ecumenical situation in eastern Europe and identifying how the process of the Charta Oecumenica may help tackle existing difficulties”: that’s the objective of the Consultation to be held at Leanyfálu, in Hungary, from 27 to 30 November, on the invitation of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe ( CCEE) and the Conference […]

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ccee-comece-cec" "

No to the destruction of human embryos ” “

“Deep concern” about the proposal adopted by the European Parliament to grant EU funds to research that entails the destruction of human embryos has been expressed by the Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe ( Comece) in a statement put out on 19 November, immediately after hearing news of the proposal. “We are deeply […]

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front page" "

The challenge of living together” “” “

In France, following the controversy over the Islamic headscarf, people are now debating a possible bill that would ban religious signs and symbols in schools. We in the French Church are contrary to a law of this type for various reasons: first, because it risks developing very strong reactions and exacerbating community tensions; second, because […]

di Stanislas Lalanne" "General Secretary of the " "French Episcopal Conference" "" "

Dailies and periodicals” “” “

“Iraq, Israel, Palestine, from despair to madness?” That’s the headline of an article signed by Robert Malley, former special adviser to Clinton and now director of the Middle-East programme of the International Crisis Group, that appears in the French daily Le Monde of 19/11. “A trio of common principles is applicable to the two crises: […]

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Cooperation with Asia and Latin America ” “

The EP adopted, on 6 November, a report on cooperation between the Community and the countries of Latin America and Asia. In particular, priority is given to the poorest countries and to the poorest sectors in the partner countries. As to the budgetary allocation, a modification is proposed, aimed at sanctioning a breakdown that would […]

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Should the EU equip itself with military capabilities?” “

The European Union must equip itself with military capabilities to guarantee the credibility of the objectives of its foreign and defence policy. That is one of the central propositions of the report of the Commission “European defence: industrial and market questions – Towards a Community policy in military equipment”, which was examined by the European […]

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More women candidates for the European elections ” “

The European elections of June 2004 are approaching and the commission for women’s rights is trying to draw attention to the need to encourage a balanced representation of the two sexes in the electoral lists. The European Parliament approved, on 6 November, a report drawn up by the commission, underlining the need for a greater […]

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