Displaying items by tag: Europe

Pope Francis has sparked a debate after saying he wants to make a change to the Lord's Prayer, arguing that the current form wrongly implies that God can lead humans into temptation. The Pontiff said the Roman Catholic Church should adopt a better translation, as the current phrasing is theologically incorrect. It speaks of a God who induces temptation. The French have changed the text to 'do not let me fall into temptation’. The Pontiff said, ‘I am the one who falls, it isn't God who throws me into temptation and then looks on to see how I fell. A father does not do this; a father helps us get up immediately. The one who leads you into temptation is Satan, that's Satan's role. The prayer should say, “When Satan leads me into temptation, give me a hand”’.

EU officials supervise and fund the Palestinian Authority (PA) education system. A series of Helsinki talks examined the new PA curriculum and agreed that the new textbooks stir up further radicalisation and hatred. They concluded that radicalisation is persistent throughout the curriculum, grooming children for martyrdom and jihad war, with a fundamentalist worldview. ‘This curriculum is not only a catastrophe for Palestinian youth but also for the reputation of the Finnish education system, as the curriculum was reviewed under the supervision of Finnish experts and officials,’ said the spokesperson for the EU consultations. An elementary mathematics book asks, ‘If the number of martyrs from the first intifada is X and the number of martyrs from the second intifada is Y, what is the total number of martyrs?’ In basic physics, Newton’s law of gravity is explained by a picture of a young Palestinian aiming a slingshot at an Israeli officer. See

The European Commission president’s informal manner at EU meetings has been criticised. He denies accusations that he has a drink problem. Now he must now take urgent steps to explain his role in an illegal wiretap scandal. In 2013 Jean-Claude Juncker resigned as Luxembourg prime minister after his intelligence chiefs were accused of tapping phones, bugging politicians and keeping 13,000 secret files. He denied any involvement, but was dragged back into the scandal after fresh claims that members of his staff had tampered with crucial evidence. Now a secretly recorded telephone conversation between him and his intelligence chief in 2007 shows them discussing an interference that he denies ever authorising.

On 9 December it will be one year since the attack on the Christmas market in Berlin. Europe is on a high level of alert for possible terrorist attacks. In many countries there will be Christmas bazaars, street nativity scenes, carols, and other seasonal events. Pray for God to give a double portion of wisdom and discernment to police and military personnel as they work to keep our borders and streets free of terrorists and terror attacks. Pray for God’s perfect networking and communication between those whose job is to detect dangerous individuals, identify and safeguard potential soft targets, and monitor distrusted individuals. May there be early detection of any planned attacks this Christmas. In England in 2016 combat teams worked undercover to protect Christmas shoppers from an attack in London’s Oxford Street. Pray for the success and protection of all undercover workers this Christmas season.

Turkey-EU ties are currently marked by mutual resentments and appear to be going nowhere. In a sign of the times, Brussels is withholding 175 million euros in pre-accession funds for Turkey, which on paper remains a candidate for EU membership. Ankara says it doesn’t need EU money or membership, but it is developing ties with individual EU members, which seems to be a search for another kind of relationship with Europe. French president Emmanuel Macron, who has emerged as Erdogan’s principal European speaker, said Turkey is a partner in many crises Europe faces, notably the immigration challenge and the terrorist threat. Countries such as Germany and France are angry about EU citizens arrested in Turkey on what they say are trumped-up charges linking them to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or the so-called Fethullah Gulen Terror Organisation (FETO). They are accusing Ankara of holding these people hostage.

Mrs Merkel brought unity and peace to the EU’s high table, which was unusual as she seldom had much to say. Like many German politicians she was unimaginative about how to stop financial rot from spreading to countries like Italy. But she had an asset that most leaders can only dream of - authority. When she talked, others listened. The arguing stopped. If her present attempts to form a coalition government fail and she steps down, who will have the same effect? The Brexit vote was representative of a big political undercurrent in European politics, a force that was moderated by Merkel. Without her, or anyone else with a unifying idea about the EU, the cracks in its thin ice could become dangerous splits. Emmanuel Macron draws the support of other radicals like Jean-Claude Juncker, but their vision of Europe is at odds with the view of most. Other leaders are silent.

A recent surge of violence perpetrated with knives across Germany draws attention to the deterioration of security in the country. People armed with knives, axes and machetes have wreaked havoc across Germany; committing jihadist attacks, homicides, robberies, raids, sexual assaults, honour killings and other violent crimes. Knife violence occurs all over the place, and many people feel that danger lurks everywhere, with little or no public security. The police admit that they find it difficult to maintain order, day and night; they are being accused of not reporting many crimes, to try not to ‘disturb’ public opinion. However, reports indicate that in 2017 incidents of violence with knives and stabbings will reach record levels.

Austrian far-right Party, FPO is talking with conservative party, OVP, and people have been protesting against the administration including FPO. FPO had led in the polls for two years - then Mr Kurz became chairman of the ÖVP and his charisma kept FPO (with neo-Nazi roots) from running the country. To govern Mr Kurz needs a coalition partner, and the FPÖ, was his first choice. Coalition talks began three weeks ago but nothing has yet been agreed. In Germany, coalition talks collapsed after a deadlock on migration and energy caused the FDP to quit negotiations. Angela Merkel faces either forming a minority government, or fresh elections. Many are wondering, ‘Is Europe fending off a populist uprising?’ see https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/19/german-coalition-talks-close-to-collapse-angela-merkel

This year, 2,800 refugees and migrants have perished in the Mediterranean, while countless others died crossing the Sahel desert. The UN Secretary General said there is displacement, and discrimination against refugees and increasing xenophobia that needs addressing.    There is a need to re-establish the integrity of the refugee protection regime on both sides of the Mediterranean. Challenges facing the region include illicit trade in narcotics, weapons and petroleum products, refugees and migrants managed by smugglers, traffickers, and maritime pirates. (The Mediterranean Sea provides economic resources of hydrocarbons, fish stocks and invaluable trade routes.) But its benefits depend on stability and security cooperation.

If we want to pray for all in authority over Europe we should look at the CoE. It is an institution of 47 nations separate from the EU with headquarters in Strasbourg, France. It’s a parliamentary assembly of delegates from national parliaments and has its roots in being one of the first attempting to reconstruct Europe after WWII. It has the oversight of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and through the work of their Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) it oversees subjects as diverse as non-discrimination, protection of children's rights, election observation and upholding freedom of expression. Our nation’s delegates to the PACE can be found at http://www.assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/AssemblyList/AL-XML2HTML-EN.asp?lang=en&XmlID=NationalDelegation-uk