Germany: solidarity with Christians in the Holy Land” “

Security for Israel is linked to justice for Palestine: this, in essence, is what emerged from the international meeting of European and North American bishops for solidarity with the Christians in the Holy Land, held between 14 and 19 January (cf. SIR 1 and 4/2006). Representing the German Bishops’ Conference at the meeting was Bishop […]

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ECUMENISM" "

Anglicans: women bishops, a proposal” “

A specific proposal on women bishops is contained in the report of the work group led by the Anglican bishop of Guildford, the Rev. Christopher Hill. The Church of England is thus continuing along the road (embarked on for some time) of removing the obstacles that currently stand in the way of women gaining access […]

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Norway: gay unions divide the Lutherans” “

The recognition of homosexual unions is dividing the Lutheran Church in Norway. The debate was re-kindled following the publication in recent days of a theological report in which the question is posed: “Do the Scriptures speak of homosexuality is such a way that the Church can claim a foundation for accepting homosexual unions?”. To this […]

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Germany: ecumenical booklet for Olympic athletes” “

A 40-page ecumenical booklet containing spiritual texts, meditations and blessings has been published for the German athletes participating in the next Winter Olympic Games in Turin (10-26 February) and in the Paralympics. Part of the kit being given to all German athletes participating in the Turin Olympics, the booklet, with the title “Thank God sport […]

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Dietrich bonhoeffer " "

"Whoever I am"” “

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born to an upper middle class Berlin family at Breslau (now Wroclaw in Poland) on 4 February 1906. He studied theology at Tübingen and at the University of Berlin, completing his studies with the famous dissertation “Sanctorum Communio”. A pupil of A. von Harnack, he was a pastor in German evangelical parishes […]

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European Union " "

Music for unity” “

“The aim of the conference is to stimulate a wide-ranging debate on Europe and contribute to a change of paradigms to promote a new awareness of the idea of community and, perhaps, to bring a wind of optimism to our societies”, declared the Austrian Presidency of the European Council in presenting “Sound of Europe”, two […]

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Eu anti-flood directive” “

Seven hundred deaths, half a million people made homeless, over 25 billion euros in damages reimbursed by insurance companies, and incalculable economic losses for millions of victims: that is the tragic balance sheet of the floods in Europe in the period 1998-2004, a phenomenon ever more frequent and catastrophic in scale that has flailed the […]

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Counterfeiting of euro coins” “

The number of euro coins withdrawn from circulation because fake is still limited but constantly growing. The figures of the European Central Bank (ECB) speak of some 96,000 coins withdrawn in 2005, in comparison with 74,564 in 2004 and “only” 26,191 in 2003. The situation is not thought unduly worrying by the banking and judicial […]

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Growth of industrial production” “

The growth of industrial production in the Eurozone is picking up again. After two consecutive months of significant decline, the seasonal rate relating to November 2005 registered an increase of 1.3% over the previous month (in spite of the significant slowing down of industrial production in Germany, offset by a better than expected performance of […]

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More energy from biomasses” “

The European Union has presented an Action Plan to re-launch the use of biomasses for the production of “green energy” as an alternative to petroleum (ever more expensive) and natural gas (whose dependence on Russia and Ukraine is beginning to become problematic). Biomass energy is derived from the combustion of products of agriculture and forestry […]

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