“When we go to vote, let us evaluate with attention the candidates we ought to vote for”. That’s the advice of the Slovene bishops, who in preparation for the forthcoming parliamentary elections on 3 October, have drawn up a kind of vademecum on how Catholics should vote: “Let us vote for those candidates whom we […]

This year, the diocese of Eger is celebrating the millennium of its foundation and the bicentenary of its elevation to an archdiocese. The celebrations will culminate on 25 September with a Mass celebrated in the basilica of Eger by the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Juliusz Janusz, while the homily will be given by the Primate of […]

“In Europe there’s a lot of tension between those who place in question the rights of the family, and those who defend its traditional values. This often leads to a paradox in European policies, because on the one hand the precedence of human rights over everything else is proclaimed, and on the other these same […]

A warning to beware of the “populist rhetoric of some candidates and parties that risk weakening the process of democratic development” in the country has been made by the bishops of Lithuania. In view of the approaching elections that will renew Parliament in October, they have in recent days sent a letter to the “faithful […]

The priests of England and Wales have rejected the proposal made last week by the National Conference of Priests (NCP) to favour a relaxation of the norms that regulate the celibacy of priests. In the motion presented by Father Peter Morgan of the archdiocese of Liverpool, it was proposed that the idea of also admitting […]

The European Commission has formally presented to Council and European Parliament its proposal to prolong for a further two years the EU Plan for civil protection, currently approaching its deadline. The Plan – whose main objective consists in promoting mutual cooperation and assistance between the civil protection authorities of the 25 – should now benefit […]

192.8 million employed (with an average working week of 40.2 hours) and 19.1 million unemployed: these are the employment data for the European Union in 2003, according to the new Eurostat Report on the workforce. Various league tables have been compiled by the EU statistics agency. Record levels of employment were achieved (in order) by […]

Eurostat – the EU statistics agency – published last week an inquiry on poverty and social exclusion in Europe, based on figures relating to 2001. A worrying situation emerges from it. According to the report, over 55 million European citizens (equivalent to some 15% of the overall population) are daily at risk of poverty. At […]

http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/climat/future_action.htm That’s the internet site on which the Commission launched (on 14 September) an “on-line consultation” on policies relating to climate change after 2012, the year in which the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol on polluting emissions will come to an end. The consultation – open to all interested parties (citizens, businesses, political decision-makers, […]

The tragic situation in Iraq, with the horror of the periodic execution of hostages and anxiety for the fate of those (such as the two Italian girl volunteers seized on 7 September) still in the hands of terrorist groups, continues to monopolise the attention of the European press. “Another round of deceit in Iraq”, is […]