ecumenism" "

The "duty" of reconciliation” “

“I think with gratitude of the endeavour of John Paul II, who daily works for the Church, for the world and for dialogue, with all his inner strength and in spite of all the difficulties”. With these words Teoctist, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church welcomed the members of the Joint Committee of the Council […]

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Bosnia-Herzegovina" "

From the war to the truce” “

Truce, not peace. “Peace, but what peace? The truth is that we are in a state of truce”, says Father Kresimir Puljic, parish priest of Mostar, the second city of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The war ended nine years ago, but the signs of the conflict are still all too evident in the streets of this town. The […]

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Ukraine" "

Yesterday’s "kulaks”, today’s youth” “

That of being a “laboratory” of communion and working “with all its strength” at the service of the cause of unity: that’s the vocation of the Ukraine (50 million inhabitants, of whom just over 8% Greek-Catholics), a frontier land between East and West of Europe, according to John Paul II . The Pope stressed the […]

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Germany" "

A warning and sign of change” “

The regional elections in Hesse and Lower Saxony on 2 February marked the collapse of the German Social-Democratic party, currently in power, in coalition with the Greens: the party took less than 10% of the vote in Hesse and less than 15% in Lower Saxony. The success of the leaders of the CDU (Christian Democrats), […]

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EU in brief" "

Entry into force of the Treaty of Nice” “

The Treaty of Nice came into force on 1st February. It was adopted in December 2000 after five days and five nights of marathon negotiation and only recently ratified by Ireland following a second referendum. The objective of the Treaty was the reform of the EU’s institutional architecture in such a way as to permit […]

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25 member Europe: growing gap between rich and poor ” “

European Commissioner for regional policy Michel Barnier presented the second intermediate report on economic and social cohesion in Brussels on 3 February. The document approved by the Executive tackles three fundamental questions: the analysis of the situation of the European regions and the trends of economic and social cohesion in the 15 member EU and […]

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European Churches" "

At the heart of the faith” “

An unprecedented consultation to renew “the proposal of the faith in present-day society”: that is what the French bishops call for in a 64-page document with the title “Going to the heart of the faith, questions on the future of catechesis”, to be published and distributed in religious bookshops throughout the country in mid-February. “The […]

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Greece: Cardinal Kasper a guest of the Orthodox Church ” “

“This visit, paid at the express invitation of the Orthodox archbishop of Athens and all Greece, Christodoulos, assumes great importance in the context of the improvement of relations between the two Churches”: that’s the comment made to SirEurope by the president of the Greek Episcopal Conference, Msgr. Nikolaos Foskolos, on the visit that Cardinal Walter […]

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press review" "

Dailies and periodicals” “

While US Secretary of State Colin Powell was furnishing the UN Security Council with “convincing proofs” of the existence, in Iraq, of weapons of mass destruction, the main international dailies were continuing to analyze the eventuality of a war. The Herald Tribune (5/2) is critical in its judgement of the recent Franco-British “summit”, in which […]

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agenda" "

EU legislation” “” “

In the course of last week the following legislative acts and communications, among others, came into force: Draft Regulation of the Council regarding the control of concentrations between businesses (“Community Regulation on Concentrations”) (OGEC C 20/4, 28/1/03); Draft Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to the precursors of drugs (OGEC C […]

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