Leo van Doesburg

The European Citizen’s Initiative (ECI) “One of us” has announced today that is has reached the necessary signatures to be introduced as an official petition to the European Commission. The collection of signatures will go on until October 31 st . This ECI, which requires support by at least one million EU citizens from a minimum of 7 EU member states, is an official invitation to the European Commission to introduce a legislative change to suspend EU-funding of embryonic stem cell research. (Source:  European Dignity Watch)

On 25 – 27 September, the Ecumenical Romanian Parliamentary Prayer Group organized in collaboration with the European Christian Political Foundation the 8th Romanian Prayer Breakfast followed by an international conference on Human Dignity. The Romanian Prayer Breakfast will be hosted by the President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Romanian Parliament, Mr. Valeriu Ştefan Zgonea.  After the international conference, also parallel sessions will be organized focused on pro-life and the integration of people with disabilities in Romania and to mark the launch of the Romanian Chapter of the World Youth Alliance. For our international guests a special session will be organized where the Universal Declaration for Human Dignity will be discussed.  More information about the conference, speakers etc. you will find here Find more practical details (location, hotels etc) here The draft program you will find here Register here

Last month's papal audience in the Paul IV Hall with students, teachers and staff of the Jesuit gradeschools and high schools on Friday, turned out to be a friendly dialogue between the 76-year-old pontiff and the young people. In a style that seems to have become almost signature of the current pontificate, Pope Francis stepped out of yet another scripted session to engage in a spontaneous question-and-answer period with hundreds of children and teens. The Vatican radio made a report about this special meeting, which you find here When a teacher asked him about the role of Catholics in politics, Pope Francisc shared his important vision on why and how a Christian should become involved in politics. He said that participation in politics is a Christian obligation “We, Christians, cannot ‘play Pilate’ and wash our hands. We cannot,” he said. “We must participate in politics because politics is one of the highest forms of charity because it seeks the common good. ...

ECPM calls on EU member-states to respect the fundamental freedoms of conscience, faith and speech against the growing trend of imposed ideology. ECPM: ,,The EU Charter of fundamental rights should be respected by its governments”

”Do you think that the Constitution should define marriage as a union between a woman and a man?” was the question that within 15 days gained about 20% of voting population′s support, or exactly: 749.316 signatures. Although this should be more than enough to legally call for a national referendum, this action faced a lot of pressure from different sides. Please read here an article written by Slavko Vukmanov, member of the Croatian political party HRAST and his personal impressions about the actions and pressure they faced:

 On Friday, 28 June 2013, the 2nd International Conference on Human Dignity, which this year will be held at the home of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences, at the Casina Pio IV, in the serene grounds of the Vatican City State. If you are interested, you can register you can register here The title of the Conference, which is being generously supported by the ECPM and the Novae Terrae Foundation, is: “Squeezed between European and national legal orders: Is there room for Christianity?”   The conference programme you can find The conference programme you can find here   It is important to note, because of the security demands regarding the venue, all participants must register in advance. We are expecting an important attendance with politicians, NGOs, clergy and academics from all over Europe already confirmed.

The 10th Summer School is about Sustainability The European Christian Political Youth Network (ECPYN) will host its 10th International Summer School in Finland in July. The topic for the five-day Summer School is ”A Christian approach to Sustainable Development”. The event will take place from the 1st to the 5th of July 2013 at Conference Hotel Sofia (Kallvikintie 28) in Helsinki .   You can apply for the Summer School here The Summer School offers the participants a great opportunity to learn more about Christian Democratic politics, discuss sustainable development and meet other young like-minded people from all over Europe. All this in the middle of the Finnish nature by the sea, yet close to Helsinki city centre.