editorial" "

The door is open” “” “

Forty years since the opening of the Council we need to pose some questions: “Has Vatican II succeeded in conferring an innovative spirit on dialogue between the Churches? Have the Churches succeeded in drawing closer to each other? What point has been reached by the ecumenical dialogue promoted by the Council?” A fundamental presupposition for […]

di Gheorghe Militaru" "priest and theologian of the romanian orthodox church " "" "" "

Dailies and periodicals” “

A possible war in Iraq continues to monopolize the attention of the main European dailies. “Iraq: Bush’s war is not inevitable”, is the front-page headline of Le Monde (9/10), which stresses that President Bush has declared to the Americans that “the threat of a recourse to force does not mean that a military action is […]

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Switzerland: a ” “document on homosexuals

“Opposition to any form of discrimination against homosexuals, while at the same time recalling the fundamental values of the Church in this field”: that’s the position expressed by the Swiss Bishops’ Conference in a document issued in recent days. In their statement the Swiss bishops “express regret for the injustices suffered by homosexual persons and […]

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Ireland: ” “referendum on the EU

“We wish to reaffirm our support to the European Union (EU) in the supreme interest of our people”: so declares a statement issued by the Irish Catholic bishops reaffirming their support to the EU in preparation for the referendum that will call the Irish to vote on the ratification of the Treaty of Nice on […]

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Bosnia: ” “future uncertain after the elections” “

“That the elections, as ascertained by the international observers, were held in a peaceful manner, without episodes of tension, is positive”: that’s how Msgr. Pero Sudar, auxiliary bishop of Sarajevo, commented on the results of the recent elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in a statement issued to SirEurope. “Of course – continued the bishop – the low […]

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the Convention

” “Enhancing subsidiarity ” “

“Juridical personality of the Union” and “subsidiarity” were the two main points on the agenda debated in Brussels on 3 and 4 October on the occasion of the 9th plenary session of the Convention on the future of Europe. The debate concentrated on the report of the “juridical personality of the Union” work group, chaired […]

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Frankfurt

” “Books, bridges between cultures

The Book Fair that opened at Frankfurt on Wednesday 9 and ends on Monday 14 October is one of uncertainty: the publishing industry in almost all the participating countries is facing a watershed. For many publishers the 2002 Fair heralds a period of stagnation of the system, and for the more catastrophic a descent into […]

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Need for reciprocal listening

To overcome the Russian Orthodox Church’s mistrust of the Catholic Church we need to intensify “the ecumenical dialogue”: that’s the view of Thaddeus Pikus , auxiliary bishop of Warsaw and president of the Catholic-Orthodox bilateral Commission in Poland, commenting on the expulsions of four priests of foreign origin, in service in Russia, in the space […]

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Russia

” “Time and charity are needed

“The image, as in a dream, of an undivided Church”. That is the memory that the metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Kirill , will take back with him to Russia at the end of his journey to Umbria (Italy) where he was received in the archbishop’s residence in Perugia by all the bishops of the […]

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” “Migrant women and families

In a European society ever more characterized by the presence of immigrants (Moslems alone number some 20 million) “a danger to be avoided is that of cultural standardization based on Western models. It is inconceivable that any useful and fruitful relationship can be built on the basis of the destruction and dissolution of cultures and […]

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