Europe

Bishops ask EU to honour God
EUROPE'S bishops have appealed to the continent's political leaders to include a reference to God in the future Constitution of the European Union.
Representatives of the EU countries are currently drafting the Constitution, which will set out the rights and responsibilities of EU citizens.
The Secretariat of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) last week submitted its first contribution to the European Convention, the body overseeing the creation of the Constitution.
The Secretariat, which represents the bishops of the 15 EU member states, including Britain, called for the Constitution to include "an invocation of God".
It said that this "would facilitate citizens' identification with the values of the European Union, acknowledge that public power is not absolute, and guarantee the freedom of the human person".
Defend family life, says Pope
POPE JOHN Paul II has urged Italy's bishops to be outspoken in the defence of family life.
In a message marking the 50th anniversary of the Italian Episcopal Conference, the Pope asked the bishops to devote special attention to the family, supporting the institution of marriage and the "genuine education" of children.
"Italy, by virtue of its history, culture and actual Christian vitality, can truly have a great role so that the Europe which is being built will not lose its spiritual roots, but on the contrary will find in the faith lived'by Christians an inspiration and stimulus in its path towards unity," the Pope said.
Rome hosts peace march
THOUSANDS of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim young people marched through Rome on Sunday to call for world peace.
The march, organised by the Focolare movement, began in the Coliseum and ended in St Peter's Square.
Guests at the march included Rome's Chief Rabbi; Rev Miyamoto of the Myochikai Buddhist movement; Vinu Aram, leader of the Shanti Ashram Ghandi movement; Imam Mlal Bachar and Cardinal Francis Arinze, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious-Dialogue.
Heroic cardinal dies aged 89
ALEXANDRU Cardinal Todea, former head of the GreekCatholic Church in Romania, died last week aged 89.
Cardinal Todea, a supporter of the charity Aid to the Church in Need, was one of the most prominent victims of Church persecution under communist rule in his country.
In 1948, when the communist regime banned the GreekCatholic Church in Romania, he refused to join the officially recognised Romanian-Orthodox Church and was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Released from jail in 1964, he was put under custody until the end of communism in 1989. In 1991, Pope John Paul II made him a cardinal.
Sentence for Naples cardinal
CARDINAL MICHELE Giordano of Naples was given a suspended sentence last week after being found guilty of renovating a building without permission.
Cardinal Giordano received a suspended sentence of four months and 15 days. Two years ago, the cardinal was acquitted of charges of complicity in a loan sharking ring that involved his nephew.
The cardinal was charged with funneling the equivalent of $500,000 to his nephew who allegedly loaned it out at exorbitant interest rates to struggling businesses. The cardinal is also involved in another case in which he is charged with tax evasion.