Belgium" "

Place of the future” “

“Schools are not experiencing an easy situation in these initial years of the 21st century”, admit the Belgian bishops in a recently issued document entitled “The Catholic school at the beginning of the 21st century”, in which they reflect on current problems and future challenges. “The school – they write – is such an important […]

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religions-EU" "

Concerns for the UNO” “

“The war in Iraq and the ‘impasse’ of the UN Security Council raise concerns about the morality and legality of the conflict and about the future of the UNO as an institutional guarantor of the multilateral political order. We pledge to support the search for a moral debate on these issues and insist that the […]

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justice and peace" "

Long-term refugees in Germany” “

The German section of Pax Christi has called for long-term refugees in Germany to be allowed to stay. The appeal was made on the occasion of Refugee Day, celebrated on 3 October. It was also backed by the Pro Asyl association which campaigns for residence rights to be given to so-called “tolerated” persons. These are […]

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European Constitution and peace” “

A European Constitution that is not founded on the principles of peace? That is the doubt expressed in a document entitled “Peace, European Constitution and NATO”, signed to coincide with the opening of the Intergovernmental Conference on the European Constitution. Its signatories include Father Alex Zanotelli, Father Luigi Ciotti and Gino Strada, who head some […]

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ecumenism" "

German Unity Day” “

An ecumenical celebration officiated by the local bishops, Msgr. Leo Nowak (Catholic) and by the Evangelical bishop Axel Noack, was held in the cathedral of Magdeburg on 3 October, to mark “German Unity Day”, the anniversary of Germany’s reunification. Also present at the service were the President of the Federal German Republic, Johannes Rau, German […]

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General assembly of Syndesmos” “

Syndesmos, the world federation of Orthodox youth (comprising 26 associations and schools of theology in 41 countries), held its 17th general assembly at Durres, in Albania, in recent weeks. This was an historic assembly: it marked the 50th anniversary of the federation’s foundation. It was attended by over 150 delegates, guests and observers from various […]

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Interreligious dialogue” “

“If tolerating means accepting what cannot be prevented, dialoguing means going beyond tolerance: it means the recognition of the other person”: so said T. Houssam Sbat, Imam of Strasbourg, intervening at the second interreligious colloquium promoted in recent days by the Protestant Federation of France. In the view of Fabrice Midal, who was born Jewish […]

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Igc" "

Condemned to success?” “

Timetable and methods. “We are condemned to success”. Pat Cox, the Irish President of the European Parliament, could not have been clearer or more decided in defining the main objective of the Intergovernmental Conference, inaugurated in Rome on Saturday 4 October. “We must achieve a constitutional Treaty for the Union. There is no alternative, unless […]

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Unemployment” “

The unemployment rate in the EU remains stable. According to the data published in recent days by Eurostat – the Commission’s statistical office – the average for the 15 member states was 8%, compared with 7.7% in 2002. The percentage increases if we take into consideration the Euro area alone, where the rate rose from […]

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School drop outs” “

European ministers of education and youth policies, meeting at San Patrignano (Italy) in recent days, fixed a new priority for the EU: halving by 2010 the rate of school drop outs, the European average of which has now reached 19%. A strategy of six guidelines was formulated at the meeting: prevention of the causes that […]

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