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Poland: joint CCEE/CEC Committee meets” “

The annual meeting of the joint Committee of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Council of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe (CCEE) will be held at Opole, in Poland, from 29 January to 1st February. The Committee, which has met each year since 1972, is responsible for relations between the CEC and CCEE. […]

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Templeton Prize awarded to the Russian film "The Return"” “

The best European film chosen this year by the ecumenical jury of the Templeton Prize (awarded by the US-based foundation of the same name) is “The Return”, by the Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev. The prize-giving ceremony – the prize consists of a cheque for 10,000 Swiss francs – will take place during the Berlin Film […]

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European University Day” “

“European University Day” will be held on 13 March and this year will have as its theme “Christ: hope for Europe”, in preparation for the entry of ten new countries into the European Union. Promoted by the CCEE, COMECE and by the Office for university ministry of the vicariate of Rome, the Day will have […]

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France: Cardinal Panafieu (Marseilles) on the Islamic headscarf

The State was wrong to give proof of “militant imperialism with legislation that wounds and humiliates”. But equally mistaken is a religion that “in order to find its place in public life, attacks individual liberties and refuses to accept the common heritage”. That’s the opinion of Cardinal Bernard Panafieu, archbishop of Marseilles, who in a […]

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Austria: bishops warn the EU on euthanasia” “

In a statement issued on 23 January, Msgr. Klaus Küng warned of the danger of legalizing euthanasia. On behalf of the Austrian Episcopal Conference, Küng urged the Austrian representatives in the Council of Europe to act as the mouthpieces of “clear positions, ethically founded on the fundamental rights of the person”. The bishop emphasised that […]

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Germany: the WYD cross in Parliament” “

For the first time the WYD cross will make its entry into a parliament. The historic event will take place in Germany, on a date still to be determined. At least this seems to be the promise that Wolfgang Thierse, President of the German Federal Republic, made to Msgr. Heiner Koch, general secretary of the […]

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” “United Kingdom: ‘Briefing’ re-launched” “

88 pages to re-launch its presence among the English media: that’s how many pages there are in a last number of ‘Briefing’, the revamped bi-monthly ‘magazine’ published by the Bishops’ Conferences of England, Wales and Scotland. The renewal of the magazine is a matter not just of ‘look’ but also of contents. It has captured […]

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Spain: a new audiovisual service” “

The Catholic association Lumen Dei has inaugurated an audiovisual company at Trujillo (Spain). It is devoted to producing programmes on life and the family “with doctrinal clarity”. The production company is called “Producciones Nuestra Senora del Encuentro con Dios” and supplies material for the major international television networks. “Our TV programmes want to bring people […]

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Germany: "no savings at the family’s expense"” “

Cardinal Friedrich Wetter, archbishop of the archdiocese of Munich and Friesing, has expressed his support for a policy of containing public expenditure. On the occasion of the traditional new year’s meeting of the archdiocese, Wetter declared on 23 January that “for a long time many have lived above their own means. It’s not possible to […]

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Concerns raised by the "law on secularism" in France” “

During his meeting with the French Ambassador in Bucharest, Patriarch Teoctist of the Romanian Orthodox Church expressed his concerns about the danger that might be posed to religious freedom in France by the most recent legislative proposals. The Head of the Romanian Orthodox Church received the ambassador Philippe Étienne in his patriarchal residence on 20 […]

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