Posts in Europe
‘Multiculturalism is defunct’: British Government signals U-turn on 70 years of social policy

(COMMENTARY) The British Government’s Green Paper, published on March 14, outlines a strategy that signifies a 180-degree U-turn in the direction of nearly 70 years of public policy since the Second World War.  The final report of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Integration’s own inquiry into the integration of immigrants (2017) declared last year that ‘multiculturalism ... is defunct’.

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The ‘pope’s astronomer’ finds harmony between science and dogma

Guy Consolmagno has a profound love for studying space, reading and watching science-fiction as well as Jesus and the Gospels. As director of the Vatican Observatory, he is embraced by both the scientific and the religious communities, and is in the business of shattering myths about the compatibility between science and religion.

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Holy Week parable: Yes, faith played role in life, sacrifice of Lt. Col. Arnaud Beltrame

(OPINION) Hours before Palm Sunday and the start of Holy Week, Lt. Col. Beltrame died in a sacrificial act that caused mourning across France. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia said Beltrame was a civil servant doing his job and a "man who deliberately shaped and disciplined his own life to place the well-being of others before his own."

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Honored by Her Majesty

An Anglican priest is to be honored by the Queen for his public service. Fr Francis Gardom, 84, founded a charity to provide products to poor schoolgirls in Kenya who would otherwise miss school. His work has been brought to the attention of the Queen who will bestow on him the traditional gift of ‘Maundy money’ reserved for distinguished service by pensioners.

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Italian voters choose populism, break from social Catholic teaching

The March 4 vote in Italy swept to victory a wave of populist candidates – including Matteo Salvini of the Lega party – who campaigned heavily against immigration. As Italians, like many across Europe, become more agnostic, their politics morph. Political observers say a new generation of a more secular electorate have started to differentiate between religious obligations and political desires.

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Lying for the sake of truth - TASS on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

(COMMENTARY) The Russian media scene presents a sobering picture for those who hold to theories of the inevitable progress of mankind. Though the collapse of the Soviet Union ushered in a decade of a press freedoms in Russia under Boris Yeltsin, with Vladimir Putin the situation has tightened. The state does not pervade all aspects of intellectual life. But where its interests are concerned - dissent is not tolerated.

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Connecting with God in the digital age

(COMMENTARY) As Christians enter the season of Lent, the church's mission is as paramount as ever – to spread the Gospel and inform parishioners, through news stories and commentary, about the politics and culture around us. The mainstream press is not the least interested in such a mission – so it has largely become the role of the religious-based press – and the communication tools of the 21st century – to fill the void.

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Failure to communicate - Cardinal Marx and gay blessings

(Commentary) Our review of the U.S. press coverage of claims that Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich, the president of the Deutsche Bischofskonferenz (DBK), had given his permission to clergy to bless same-sex unions has sparked rigorous debate on social media. George Conger responds with his perspective on what is causing the discord.

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The State of Journalism in the Czech Republic

There is hardly a more telling moment to epitomise the state of journalism in the Czech Republic than a short TV clip from a recent meeting of two presidents: Miloš Zeman, Czech head of state and his Russian counterpart - Vladimir Putin. “And here are more journalists?” asked Mr. Zeman in Russian at the press conference. "There are too many journalists. They should be liquidated.“

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