Religious freedom: a conference of the Churches in Vienna” “

“Religious freedom: the relations of the majority and minority churches with the State”: that’s the theme at the centre of a consultation being held in Vienna from 6 to 10 November. Promoted by the Conference of the Churches of Europe (KEK), the meeting, with the help of experts and members of the Churches, will analyze […]

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Immigration: appeal of Christodoulos to the EU” “

An appeal to the Greek government, which will take over the revolving presidency of the EU in January 2003, to do everything possible to guarantee the right of immigrants to be joined by members of their families has been made by His Beatitude Christodoulos, Orthodox archbishop of Athens and all Greece. The Archbishop was addressing […]

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ecumenism" "

Christian-Islamic dialogue: meeting in Geneva” “

“We condemn every exploitation of the religious sentiment and every distortion of the teachings of our two faiths”. The condemnation was expressed by representatives of organizations, academics and Christian and Moslem activists at the end of an international consultation held in Geneva in mid-October, on the initiative of the World Council of Churches. The meeting […]

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A particular effort of preparation” “

From Zen to Tibetan Buddhism to the Thevarada tradition: the Buddhist universe is complex and variegated, formed of different rites and traditions, each of which has its own schools with different positions of faith and practice. In view of its complexity, Buddhism has a need for expert interlocutors. The point was stressed by some thirty […]

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Buddhism" "

Hospitality is not syncretism” “

A vision of the world and a religious practice that arouse a sympathetic reaction: that’s the image of Buddhism in the eyes of Europeans. Present in all the countries of the continent, Buddhism already has a numerous following (the statistics speak of a million sympathizers). Some figures: the most numerous Buddhist communities are found in […]

di Erich Leitenberger - Austria" "" "

France" "

Neither privileges, nor power” “

The plenary Assembly of French bishops opened in Lourdes on Sunday, 3 November. The Assembly, which will end on Saturday 9 November, is being attended by 150 bishops including emeritus bishops (13), representatives of foreign Episcopal Conferences (16) and the nuncio apostolic. Also taking part in the proceedings are the secretaries of the national services, […]

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Earthquake in Molise: Europe’s solidarity

Germany, France, Switzerland, Principality of Monaco: just some of the countries that have sent donations to relieve the populations of Molise (Italy), struck by the earthquake of 31October, which caused the death of 26 young children and three teachers in a school in San Giuliano di Puglia, an entire town destroyed by the quake. Donations […]

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UE: freedom of teaching” “

In Europe, as in the world, freedom of teaching (understood as a principle embracing the three rights to teach, to learn and to choose one’s own educator) is defined by the international conventions for the protection of human rights, such as article 13, paragraphs 3 & 4 of the UN Pact on economic, social and […]

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The German school system

School administration is delegated to the individual Laender but there are regular meetings between ministers to establish common policies to ensure their uniformity. Children embark on school at the age of 3 with kindergarten, which has the specific task of promoting linguistic, musical development, creativity and socialization. Grundschule (elementary school) begins at the age of […]

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Germany: the Church’s voice ” “

The Programme for international student assessment (PISA) published in January had relegated German students to 27th place in the world league table of student performance. Reaction to the result was enormous in Germany. It gave rise to much soul-searching, to long and bitter debates, and even the weekly magazine Der Spiegel dedicated a survey in […]

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