On the occasion of his recent visit to the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury, of Canterbury, George Carey, reopened the question of intercommunion. We asked English Catholics what they think of the matter “Only a priest ordained according to the criteria dictated by the Catholic Church can administer the sacrament of the Eucharist” and “the […]

Detailed report of the ACS (Aid to the suffering Church) on the violations of religious freedom in the world, including Europe What is the situation in Europe regarding “religious freedom”? An answer to this question is provided, in the form of an extensive section of fact-files dedicated to the old continent, by the book “Report […]

Refusing to carry out abortions or sterilizations on grounds of conscientious objection involves punitive forms of discrimination against doctors i n various European countries. We have gathered some of their experiences Conscientious objection must be “respected by everyone, especially by legislators”. Meeting a group of Catholic doctors in Rome, on the margins of their international […]

The 29th Kirchentag, the major annual meeting of the German Protestant Churches, was recently held in Frankfurt. We publish a report on the event and the impressions of some of its participants The fourth time for Frankfurt, the first for a German Chancellor since 1987. 100,000 participants, but many last-minute guests swelled the ranks. 2500 […]

“For the first time John Paul II is visiting an Orthodox country without the agreement of the political authorities”. That’s how Le Monde (24-25/6) hails the Pope’s journey to the Ukraine, calling the destination of the Pope’s last apostolic “mission” a “religious powderkeg”. “This visit – comments Henri Tincq – is taking place at a […]

The 29th “Day of the German Protestant Church”, which was characterized by many aspirations and appeals for Christian unity, ended with the desire for the deeper communion in the field of ecumenism that theology and liturgy still do not permit. In this regard, Helga Trösken, Protestant pastor, called it “scandalous” that “the deepest schism” should […]

An “alarming drop” in the number of baptisms, confirmations, and marriages is registered in Croatia, according to the data of the statistical office of the Croatian Episcopal Conference, referring to the year 2000 and published in recent days by the Croatian Catholic news agency Ika. There are 3,837,785 Catholics, or 73% of the population. But […]

Speaking recently in Berlin, the representative of the Catholic aid organization Misereor, Josef Sayer, criticised the policy of support for the developing countries implemented by the German Federal government. “Chancellor Schroeder, together with other heads of government, had openly committed himself last September to halving the number of poor people in the world by 2015”, […]

“ Communicating the Gospel in a changing world”: that is the title of the Pastoral Guidelines of the Italian episcopate for the first decade of the new millennium…”. “taking a realistic look at the context in which we are called to offer our witness”: that is how Card. Camillo Ruini, President of the Italian Episcopal […]

After the two draft laws on euthanasia and palliative treatment were approved by the Commissions for social affairs and justice of the Belgian Senate on 20 March, the secretary of the Belgian Bishops’ Conference, Etienne Quintiens, reviewed the situation during the meeting of the secretaries of the European Episcopal Conferences held in Prague from 21 […]