Austria and Hungary seek EU help on human trafficking
Austria and Hungary are asking the EU to help them guard the Schengen border to the Balkans after an alleged increase in human trafficking. The issue will be discussed today (22 September) when interior ministers are likely to bin a proposal to give the EU commission a say in re-imposing border checks and on enlarging the border-less zone to Bulgaria and Romania. In a joint letter seen by EUobserver, the Austrian and Hungarian interior ministers are asking for ‘common action’ in securing the Hungarian-Serbian border which allows traffickers to bring Arab and Asian migrants into western Europe. ‘In Austria and in Hungary we have recently seen a significant increase in the number of interceptions of illegal migrants, most of them smuggled into the country. These people, above all citizens of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Somalia, Iran and Iraq, are being smuggled into the European Union under inhuman conditions, most often in converted buses, lorries or cars,’ the letter reads. Pray: for all those caught up in this trafficking problem to be set free. (Is.42:7)
Europe growing hostile to Christians
Europe is currently experiencing ‘an atmosphere of intolerance in relation to Christians, as well as to representatives of other traditional religions’ according to one of the most influential figures in the Russian Orthodox Church. Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate's department for external Church relations also said that Europe needs to ‘discuss openly the violation of the rights of Christians’. He was speaking in Rome to a meeting organised by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to address the issue of discrimination against Christians. The meeting, entitled ‘Preventing and Responding to Hate Incidents and Crimes against Christians’, was organised by Lithuania,
which currently chairs the OSCE. Metropolitan Hilarion said that, while European civilization ‘is a culture that has developed on a Christian foundation’ it had ‘acquired a clearly expressed multicultural nature, having become a place of contact between peoples and religions from all over the world’.
Pray: that the people of Europe would remember their Christian foundations and revert to the truth. (Is.48:13-14a)
Europe growing hostile to Christians
Europe is currently experiencing ‘an atmosphere of intolerance in relation to Christians, as well as to representatives of other traditional religions’ according to one of the most influential figures in the Russian Orthodox Church. Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate's department for external Church relations also said that Europe needs to ‘discuss openly the violation of the rights of Christians’. He was speaking in Rome to a meeting organised by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to address the issue of discrimination against Christians. The meeting, entitled ‘Preventing and Responding to Hate Incidents and Crimes against Christians’, was organised by Lithuania,
which currently chairs the OSCE. Metropolitan Hilarion said that, while European civilization ‘is a culture that has developed on a Christian foundation’ it had ‘acquired a clearly expressed multicultural nature, having become a place of contact between peoples and religions from all over the world’.
Pray: that the people of Europe would remember their Christian foundations and revert to the truth. (Is.48:13-14a)
Parents really want is more time to spend with their children
Last week's UNICEF report on parenting led to a flood of news items lamenting the consumer culture and its impact on British children. In fact, UNICEF interviewed a total of 25– yes, twenty-five – families across Europe . That's fewer than ten per country. This is hardly a good statistical base for drawing conclusions. Another report commissioned for the Labour party questioned 2000 adults in the UK and found ‘a yearning for traditional family values’, which many feel have disappeared, saying the ‘ideal’ family should have a mother and a father. This is quite a contrast to Government policies over the last decade encouraging mothers to go out to work. Jill Kirby, a family expert and author of The Price Of Parenthood, said: ‘This survey shows how out of touch current political parties are with what families really need and what most women want. They want more time with their children.’
Pray: for governments and policy to be much more oriented to support family life. (Eph.3:14-15)
