GERMANY

Pledge to peace

On 5 November, the representatives of Cologne’s Jews, Christians and Muslims met in the city’s town hall to sign a peace pledge in the presence of over 300 guests and of the Mayor, Fritz Schramma, who sponsored the initiative. The leaders of the three religions declared their opposition to any kind of incitement to violence, […]

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Care for the sick

“Whoever needs care wishes to be cared for in the family and in his/her own home. So family members that provide care must be able to reduce their own professional activity or interrupt it to dedicate themselves to the care of their loved ones”, said Elisabeth Bußmann, president of the League of Catholic Families, in […]

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Rites for the dead entrusted to laypeople

In a parish of the diocese of Münster, the rites for the dead are now being entrusted to the laity. Since the summer of 2005, Father Hans Gerd Paus, parish priest of the church of Sankt Margareta, has received official permission from his bishop, the Right Rev. Reinhard Lettmann, to commission permanent deacons and pastoral […]

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TOUSSAINT2006

At the heart of society

“The aim of the congress, to enable the Church to offer her message about the meaning of life to man in our time, was achieved. We showed ourselves to be without complexes and without arrogance, and welcomed at least 50% more people than we had anticipated”, declared the archbishop of Brussels, Cardinal GODFRIED DANNEELS , […]

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ECUMENISM

A day for Sibiu

“Unity among Christians must be promoted in every way: with prayer, with dialogue, with cooperation on the basis of the themes of justice and peace”, said Monsignor JOHN A. RADANO , head of chancery at the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, in introducing the “day of Romanian ecumenical spirituality” on Monday 6 November. Promoted by […]

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TURKEY

Fair but firm

The difficult relations with the Republic of Cyprus: the “slowdown in domestic reforms”; the inadequate protection of the freedom of speech, religion and of minorities: in the report on the progress made by the countries eligible for accession to the EU, the Commission finds “many problems and delays” for Turkey. But objections are also raised […]

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Rigour, revival and risks

The European economy grew in 2006 and, save for some deceleration, fairly strong performances are forecast for the next two years. Unemployment is tending to decrease, while inflation remains virtually stable. At the same time the public finances of the member countries have improved. The autumn economic forecasts, announced by the Commission on 6 November, […]

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Campaign against alcohol abuse

The European Commission adopted a Communication at the end of October with the aim of defining an EU strategy for reducing the deleterious effects linked to the “harmful and dangerous consumption” of alcohol: a phenomenon that, according to the latest data from Brussels, annually causes, and not just in the European Union, the death of […]

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The Lisbon Strategy on track?

The first good news about the progress of the Lisbon Strategy: the European Commission has published its Intermediate Report on the implementation of the EU programmes that form part of the Lisbon Strategy, positively evaluating the action at the EU level in the framework of the “Partnership for growth and employment”. It emerges from the […]

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Kyoto Protocol: progress made, but it’s not enough

Positive and negative sides emerge from the “Intermediate Report on progress made in achieving the objectives fixed by the Kyoto Protocol”, published by the European Commission last week. According to the document, fifteen member states that pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 8% over the figure for 1990 in the period 2008-2012 are […]

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