October 1, 2009 Resettle refugees

Sweden’s minister for migration and asylum policy has urged European Union countries to make greater efforts to resettle refugees from outside Europe.

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September 3, 2009 Russian president moves to promote interfaith dialogue

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has in recent weeks spoken several times of the importance of interreligious dialogue and stated that his country offers a unique example in that sphere.

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September 1, 2009 Turkey says okay to Christian worship in birthplace of St. Paul

The government of Turkey has agreed to extend indefinitely permission for Christian worship at an historic church in Tarsus, the birthplace of St. Paul, says the head of the country’s Roman Catholic bishops’ conference.

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September 1, 2009 Work more with migrants and refugees, European church leader says

Christians in Europe should mark 2010 as the year they create more secure societies by strengthening their work with migrants, refugees and ethnic minorities, a European church leader has said.

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July 2, 2009 Pope Benedict says relics are those of St. Paul

The Roman Catholic Church's Year of St. Paul ended with a flourish on June 28, as Pope Benedict XVI announced that scientists had authenticated the first-century saint's earthly remains under a church in Rome.

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June 17, 2009 Kobia tells Dutch gathering Christians should welcome all faiths

The head of the World Council of Churches has warned of a backlash in Europe against migrants and refugees, after gains by anti-immigration parties in elections to the European Union parliament.

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April 14, 2009 PWRDF accepts donations for Italy quake relief

The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) is accepting donations for victims of the powerful earthquake that devastated the medieval city of L’Aquila, in central Italy, and the surrounding areas on April 6.

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March 1, 2009 Patriarch Kirill I heads Russian Orthodox Church

Ecumenical leaders, including Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, welcomed the election of Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad as the 16th Patriarch of Moscow and of all Russia.

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February 20, 2009 Catholic-Jewish ties tested as Pope prepares for Israel visit

The Central Council of Jews in Germany is to take part in the country's annual Christian-Jewish "Week of Fraternity" after first expressing scepticism because of a controversy surrounding the Vatican's lifting of the excommunication of a breakaway bishop who has denied that Jews died in Nazi gas chambers.

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February 11, 2009 Patriarch Kirill gives Russian minority churches cautious optimism

Russian minority churches have voiced cautious optimism about their prospects under the country's new Orthodox patriarch, Kirill I, after messages of welcome from church leaders worldwide following his installation on 1 February.

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