Italy: the Church and Europe ” “

The appeal to faith as the source of peaceful co-existence, the contribution of the Churches to the construction of the European Union, the centrality of the parish, and concern for the country’s social emergencies, immigration in particular: these are the main points in the final communiqué of the permanent Council of the Italian Episcopal Council, […]

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Germany: pro-life week” “

“Pro-Life Week 2002” was presented in Frankfurt in recent days. A joint venture promoted by the Catholic Church and by the Federation of the Evangelic Churches in Germany, the Week will be held from 13 to 20 April 2002. “Do the will of God for man!” is the theme chosen for the event in the […]

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France: bishop denies accusations of paedophilia” “

Accused of paedophilia for incidents that date back to 1972, the auxiliary bishop of Paris, former spokesman of the French Bishops’ Conference, Jean-Michel Di Falco, issued a writ for defamation on 19 March, and immediately informed the archdiocese of Paris of his action. According to the press release issued by the archdiocese on the same […]

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Spain: Social Forum of Barcelona” “

“Combatting neo-liberal globalization at the local level” is the proposal of the Social Forum of Barcelona, a grouping of 45 social, political, religious and trade-union associations that have reflected in recent days on the impact of the globalization phenomenon on the daily life of the citizen. According to Arcadi Oliveras, lecturer in economics, “in the […]

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Austria: the Salesians at the side of the "child soldiers" ” “

Demonstrating that it’s possible to rescue children and youngsters who have fought as soldiers from their terrible past of warfare and homicide and build for themselves an alternative life, is the objective that “Missio-Austria” has set itself. Missio-Austria is the mission-aid society of the Salesians in Austria. It launched its new campaign on behalf of […]

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North Europe: assembly of bishops” “

The protection of children and questions of an ecumenical nature were on the agenda of the Assembly of the bishops of North Europe, held in Copenhagen from 9 to 13 March. The bishops of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland assembled under the presidency of the bishop of Oslo, Gerhard Schwenzer. The other issues discussed […]

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France: culture in the abbey of Fontevraud ” “

The cloister garden of the French abbey of Fontevraud, the largest monastic complex in Western Europe, will be reopened on Sunday, 24 March, on the inauguration of the Festival of Holy Week, which will have as its theme this year “The Pasch in the churches of the East”. Numerous events have been promoted by the […]

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” “Dailies and periodicals” “

“ At Monterrey, the delegates wish to speak about the poor but not see them“. That’s the title of an editorial signed by Bebette Stern that appeared on the front page of the French daily Le Monde ( 19/3). Stern speaks of the UN Conference on the funding of development that opened in the Mexican […]

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agenda" "

EU legislation” “

In the course of last week the following legislative acts and communications, among others, came into force: · Resolution of the Council of 1/3/2002 on the protection of consumers, in particular of the young, through the labelling of some videogames and computer games by age groups (OGEC 65/2, 14/3/2002); · Common action of the Council, […]

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European Parliament” “

The Commissions of the EP are due to meet in Brussels from 25 to 29 March 2002. The main points on the agenda are as follows: · Social policy – draft joint report on social inclusion (Commission of Social Affairs and Commission of Culture, rapporteur: Alyssandrakis); · Report on the state of negotiations on EU […]

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