Italy: giving youngsters "a Christian alphabet"” “

“Restoring links with memory, with the past, with one’s own roots, is a very important educational task which schools must assume: if we no longer recognize ourselves to be ‘children’ of a shared history, of a common past, it then becomes difficult to engage in dialogue”. The point is made by Msgr. Giuseppe Betori, secretary […]

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France: talks between Church and State ” “

From the scope left to the teaching of religion in schools to the question of religious buildings and their organization: just some of the questions at the centre of relations between the Catholic Church and the French State. The first of a series of meetings between religious and political representatives with the aim of examining […]

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European NGOs ask the EU for great commitment to development” “” “

The European non-governmental organizations are asking the Council of foreign ministers of the EU to make a bigger commitment to aid to the development of the poor countries: an issue that will be debated, among others, during the UN conference “Finance for development” to be held in Monterrey, in Mexico, from 18 to 22 March. […]

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Spain: a Church little listened to” “

“The institutional communication of the Church in society” was the theme of the annual assembly of the diocesan delegates for social communication in Spain. According to José María Gil Tamayo, director of the mass media secretariat of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, “the Church, which was the master of communication during history, is now lamenting its […]

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The "Islamic Charter" presented in Germany” “

The “Islamic Charter” was presented in Berlin on 20 February. In this document the Central Council of the Moslems in Germany describes the relation to be maintained with the State and with German society. On 3 February the assembly of Islamic representatives expressed itself in favour of the document, which is aimed at “setting out […]

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European Union" "

A peace plan for the Middle East” “

“A return to political action, with the need to ensure security”: that’s how the content of the meeting of the EU’s ministers of foreign affairs in relation to the peace process in the Middle East might be summed up. The General Affairs Council, albeit in the absence of unanimity of views, believes that the current […]

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Mediterranean: relaunching the Barcelona process” “

The European Commission last week approved a Communication containing 15 recommendations to relaunch the Euro-Mediterranean process. The document presents a series of proposals relating to all the chapters of the Barcelona Process and is aimed especially at improving its overall functioning. The Communication, by which the EU executive intends to furnish a basis for discussion […]

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The stability programmes approved” “

The Council of economic and financial ministers (Ecofin) has expressed a positive opinion about the stability and convergence programmes presented by Italy, France, Greece, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Ireland and the United Kingdom. In the course of their meeting, the fifteen ministers of the economy and finance also expressed their cautious optimism about the European economic […]

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European arrest warrant: its entry into force brought forward” “

In the course of their informal summit in Santiago di Compostela the ministers of Justice and the Interior of Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom announced that their countries intend to apply the procedure for the European arrest warrant already in the course of the first half of 2003, i.e. at least […]

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” “Dailies and periodicals

Wide coverage is devoted to the trial of Milosevic in The Hague in the main European dailies and periodicals. An article published in the Spiegel (18/02), signed by Thomas Darnstaedt, is entitled “ With legs chained“, recurring to a metaphor used by the former Yugoslav president, who, in his defence, likened himself to a man […]

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