Salvation Army and the emergency ” “

The French Foundation of the Salvation Army, an international movement that has campaigned to relieve the hardship of people in difficulties for the last 120 years and that now has a worldwide membership of two and a half million, in reporting on the activities it performed in France in the winter of 2002-2003, noted “the […]

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Slovenia" "

A deep and widely shared desire” “

“How Catholic is Slovenia?”. According to the local Episcopal Conference, it is a question to which it is difficult to give a clear answer, in the light of two recent surveys on the matter: one by the Statistics Institute of the Slovenian Republic, the other based on annual parish data. 58% of the Slovenian population […]

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Austria" "

Preparations in full swing” “

The preparation of the Katholikentag (Catholic assembly) of Central Europe, the city mission, the role of Catholics in political life, social doctrine, and the training of teachers: these were the main questions on the agenda of the Austrian bishops at their spring plenary assembly, held at St. Georgen am Längsee in recent days. The Katholikentag […]

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Switzerland: Aids campaign poster withdrawn ” “

After the protest of the Swiss bishops, the Federal Bureau for Public Health has decided to withdraw one of the posters proposed as part of its “Stop Aids 2003” Campaign launched last week, in the middle of Holy Week. The Swiss bishops had protested against the campaign which had shown itself to be “offensive” to […]

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Germany: serious shortage of priests” “

A continuing problem in Germany is the shortage of priests; turnover has been stabilized at a very low level. In 2002, 131 priests were ordained, a number wholly insufficient to cope with the problem of the ageing of the clergy. According to Rainer Birkenmaier, director of the Centre for vocations of the German Bishops’ Conference, […]

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Ireland, the Islamic community meets Cardinal Connell” “

A meeting recently took place in the Irish capital between the archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, and a group of representatives of the Islamic community, including the secretary of the European Council for the fatwa, sheik Hussein Halawa, and the director of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland, Noah Al-Jkadoo. The main point on […]

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Spain, a pastoral care of immigrants” “

A “vademecum” or handbook of the Church of Madrid on the pastoral care of immigrants, signed by Cardinal Antonio M. Rouco Varela, archbishop of the city, has been published as part of a series of pastoral guides on various themes. Subdivided into twelve chapters, it comprises a “long series” of specific proposals: “not because each […]

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Switzerland: meeting of Catholic youth in 2004″ “

The national meeting of Catholic youth will be held in Bern on 5-6 June next year. The event is announced in a press release of the Swiss Bishops’ Conference, dated 28 April, which also announces the probable presence of John Paul II at the event. In that case, a large site close to the Arena […]

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Czech Republic: letter to Vietnam” “

A letter to urge “the immediate release” of two well-known Vietnamese Buddhist exponents, Thich Huyen Quang e Thich Quang Do, has been sent by the President of the Justice and Peace Council of the Czech Episcopal Conference, Msgr. Vàclav Maly, to Tran Duc Luong, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. “These courageous leaders, – […]

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France: right to asylum, "alarming situation"” “

The French bishops have denounced “the alarming situation” of political asylum-seekers in France. They did so just at the time that the French Parliament was busily discussing a bill on the matter. Already on 6 February 2002 the French bishops had contested “the excessive duration” and “inadequacy” of the procedures for seeking asylum, and urged […]

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