Caritas" "

Poverty in Europe” “

Europe seems rich. In fact it’s poor, because situations of profound inequalities and shortcomings in state social policies co-exist within the same country or between different countries. Of all the member states of the European Union, Italy is the country with the highest percentage of poor people (14.2%). “In spite of the diversity between the […]

di Redazione

euro

” “Revising the stability pact? ” “

The European Commission has recommended the Ecofin Council to implement its early warning procedure in relation both to Germany and Portugal. The measure adopted by the EU Executive is due to the excessive growth of public debt in the two countries in question, beyond the ceilings set by their budget forecasts. Though without yet incurring […]

di Redazione

How does the EMU work? ” “

The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), whose rules, institutions and objectives are defined by the Treaty on the European Union signed at Maastricht in 1992, corresponds to the economic zone in which the single currency (the Euro) is now in operation. It is based on two institutional cornerstones: the Ecofin Council of the EU’s economic […]

di Gian Andrea Garancini - Brussels" "

enlargement

” “The fears of the countries of Eastern Europe” “

The frontiers need to be opened, but above all it’s people’s hearts that need to be opened, because only thus will it be possible to build a Europe in which diversities co-exist and the traditions of East and West are respected. That’s the opinion of Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, archbishop major of Leopolis of the Ukrainians, […]

di Irene Argentiero" "" "

bioethics" "

Germany: ” “a contradictory decision” “

On 30 January the German Parliament voted in favour of the importation of embryonal stem cells for research purposes, and will in the near future be called to vote on the entire bill regulating the question. The German Churches, as indeed numerous deputies, opposed this decision (cf. SirEurope no. 4/2002). “The decision is contrary to […]

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Spain

” “Solidarity with our Argentine brothers

The Spanish Church is intervening to help Argentina. In recent days Msgr. Luis Héctor Villalba , archbishop of Tucumán, had a meeting in Spain with Cardinal Rouco Varela, president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference. Concrete solidarity with Argentina was also expressed in the final communiqué of the permanent Episcopal Council (Madrid, 29-30 January). Spanish Caritas […]

di Pedro Angulo" "" "ecumenism" "

GMO: the KEK asks for clarity” “

The need to evaluate the possible threats to bio-diversity. The need to oblige producers to label genetically modified products with “transparency”. And the need to state as honestly as possible whether genetically modified organisms (GMOs) represent “a remedy for world famine or are just another source of profit for the multinationals”. These are just some […]

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United Kingdom: Islamic-Christian agreement” “

An historic agreement has been reached between Islam and the Church of England, the church founded by Henry VIII in 1532. Four months after the terrorist attacks on the USA, the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, has signed an agreement with Mohamed Sayed Tantawy, the grand imam of the Egyptian university of al-Azhar al-Sharif, which […]

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Russia: interconfessional Committee” “” “

A joint letter to president Putin to raise the problem of tax on religious organizations and the preparation of a series of meetings and round tables on bioethics and the integrity of human life: these are just some of the major issues addressed by the interconfessional Christian committee that met in recent days at the […]

di Redazione

Turkey: emergency aid to the homeless” “

44 dead, 334 injured, 340 houses destroyed, 246 places of work inaccessible: that is the provisional balance sheet of the earthquake that struck Turkey on Sunday, 3 February. The quake, magnitude six on the Richter scale, had its epicentre in the village of Bovadin, in the region of Afyon and was followed by some 500 […]

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