Germany: Pro-Life Week and medical progress” “

Scientific progress at the service of man: “possibilities and limits of medical progress”: that’s the title of this year’s “Pro-Life Week” in Germany (cf. Sir 25/2003) which is due to open in Bayreuth on 3 May, with an ecumenical celebration officiated by Cardinal Karl Lehmann, president of the German Bishops’ Conference, and by Manfred Kock, […]

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Austria: pensions that penalize families ” “

The secretariat of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference has criticized the country’s pensions reform. Already at the end of its spring plenary assembly, Cardinal Cristoph Schoenborn, president of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference, had warned of the danger of penalizing large families. The penalization of workers with children is one of the main criticisms levelled against the […]

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European Churches" "

Italy: an appeal to return to the Holy Land” “

“We wanted to discover at first hand what the living conditions of Christians in the Holy Land are like to be able to give them the right aid”. That’s the comment of Msgr. Giuseppe Betori, general secretary of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), at the end of the recent pilgrimage (22-25 April) of Italian bishops […]

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enlargement" "

Entering Europe in order to grow” “

According to Entraide d’Eglises, a Belgian non-profit association that promotes aid projects for education, information, culture and social life in various countries of Eastern Europe (including Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Russia, Belarus, Lithuania, Romania and Poland), “the countries that recently emerged from Communism fear finding themselves in a single bloc that would reduce their re-found […]

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ecumenism" "

Festival of Orthodox youth” “

A festival of Orthodox youth will be held at the abbey of Nôtre-Dame de l’Ouye, near Dourdan, in the French region of Essonne, from 1st to 4th May. The brainchild of a group of youngsters in various dioceses, the festival was approved by the Orthodox bishops of France. Its participants, including those aged from 18 […]

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Human rights: little progress” “

Following the presentation of the annual report for 2002 of the European Parliament, a public audition dedicated to the situation of basic human rights and liberties in the EU for the year 2002 was held in Brussels on 24 April. Discussion focused on the progress made by the member states in terms of respect for […]

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Research on stem cells” “

The European Commission held a seminar on questions relating to bioethics and procedures for funding research on stem cells and human embryos in Brussels on 23 April. In particular the so-called ‘Busquin’ project – presented by the European Commissioner responsible for research – was discussed: it would give scientific research projects funded by the EU […]

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Four-member summit on defence” “

At the proposal of Belgium, a mini-summit on European defence policy was held in Brussels on 29 April. Apart from the host country, its participants included France, Germany and Luxembourg. Defined by many as the “Pacifists’ Summit” due to the stance taken by the four EU members against the war in Iraq and especially against […]

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Forthcoming appointments” “

The 19th plenary session of the Convention will be held in Brussels on 15-16 May. President Giscard d’Estaing confirms his intention to present his complete draft of the Constitution at the plenary session on 30 May and to deliver the final draft to the heads of state and of government in the course of the […]

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The debate in plenary session” “

The 18th plenary session of the Convention opened on 24 April with the presentation of the drafts of the articles of the future European Constitution on the Union’s institutions (15 articles) and on common foreign policy and security (3 articles). The European Council is raised to the status of Institution (art. 14). Provision is made […]

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