Word: christian
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...increasingly emotional immigration issue may be a factor in the campaigning for next January's national elections. The opposition Social Democrats have already reproached the government for "playing with people's lives." In response, Kohl's Christian Democrats wish to amend the constitution to admit refugees fleeing political persecution but not those simply seeking a better life in an affluent society. That would theoretically bar more than 80% of this year's newcomers. Enforcing such rules, however, may not be easy. As one airline executive in Frankfurt observed last week, "How can we tell the difference between acceptable political refugees...
...youthful gathering was convened by Comunione e Liberazione (Communion and Liberation), a feisty, some say combative, Roman Catholic student movement founded 31 years ago in Italy as a Christian response to the growing allure of Marxism and other atheistic philosophies. Rimini is the site of C.L.'s annual week-long festival, called simply the Meeting, and this year's theme, information, is announced in a typically offbeat title: "Drums, Bytes, Messages...
...Popes John XXIII and Paul VI were building bridges toward Marxists and atheists, a policy that still attracts some of Italy's bishops. Many of them -- including Milan's influential Jesuit Archbishop Carlo Maria Cardinal Martini -- are dismayed by C.L.'s independent spirit and its insistence that a true Christian can have only one political and social outlook, a fault they label "integralism." Retorts C.L. Member Ronza: "We don't want to impose our Christian ideals on anyone, but we want an equal hearing...
...movement clearly enjoys favor where it matters most. Pope John Paul II has come to rely on lay groups -- notably the secretive, highly disciplined Opus Dei -- to promote Christian values in a society that he finds increasingly materialistic. The Pontiff, who first came across C.L. while he was a bishop in Poland, made an appearance at the 1982 Rimini Meeting to give the crowd his special blessing. He still receives delegates from the organization in special audiences...
...advancing in politics as well as religion. Roberto Formigoni, 39, a Christian Democrat and a founder of C.L.'s political arm, the Movimento Popolare, was elected in 1984 to the European Parliament with heavy C.L. support and then voted president of the Parliament's political affairs committee. In Italy's 1985 municipal elections, C.L.-backed candidates were voted into nearly 1,000 positions, including deputy mayor of Milan...