Displaying items by tag: Europe

The leaders of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green party have struck a deal to form a coalition government in Ireland four months after a general election scrambled the political landscape. The proposed coalition, which still needs to be ratified by grassroots members, would bridge a century of rivalry between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil and inject urgency into Ireland’s response to the climate crisis. It will also need to steer new laws, including one for a €6.5bn (£5.8bn) coronavirus support package, through a fragmented parliament.

The world’s smallest state, in the heart of Rome and the papal domain, is losing credibility through numerous scandals, aggressive papal doctrinal positions, and sustained decline in vocations (of priests, monks and nuns), which are bringing many changes to Catholicism. Pray for the impact of charismatic renewal on Catholics worldwide: a large proportion of the Catholic missionary force is charismatic. At the same time, the Church is expanding in theological conservatism, Marian devotion (prayers to Mary), and folk religious practices.

As governments across Europe seek ways to reopen borders, the EU is calling for a coordinated approach, especially as it seems each country is drawing different conclusions on how best to proceed. What happens over the coming weeks and months will be important both for ‘key’ travel as well as tourism. In May, the EU set out plans for a phased restart of travel from 15 June, giving guidelines about lifting restrictions at the internal borders. European legislation provides a framework for such reopenings. ‘It is up to each member state to decide how to regulate its own borders, but they must do so within the framework of the Schengen Code for the Schengen Area,’ said European law professor Alberto Alemanno. See

Thousands of Dutch minks became infected with coronavirus and were culled. Researchers are now urging other countries such as Denmark and Spain to test their animals, after infected minks passed the virus on to several mink farmers. The Dutch government says the culling is to prevent farms from becoming long-term reservoirs of Coronavirus. The animals were first infected by their handlers in April. In May, the government identified two cases in which humans had been infected by sick animals - the only animal-to-human transmissions known since the global outbreak began in China. The Humane Society is calling for the 24 countries still allowing mink farming to evaluate evidence from the Netherlands.

The challenge: Italy is facing its worst recession since the Second World War. To heal the decimated economy, it has no choice but to revive its tourism industry. As of today, European travellers are once again welcomed in, restrictions on movement between regions have been lifted, and international flights are set to resume in three major cities. Italy wants visitors, but it is unclear if visitors want Italy. Also, people have long hoarded banknotes in uncertain times, but the pandemic may prove an exception. Passed from person to person, cash is making people nervous. Across Europe, shopkeepers and customers are looking for ways to limit the chances of infection, prioritising card payments. Analysts see this rapid shift as a huge step towards a wholly cashless society.

The Covid-19 pandemic will increase the number of deprived people, and make it harder for those who are already struggling. Often they cannot afford to pay rent or utility bills, keep homes warm enough, eat good quality food, run a car, own a washing machine or TV, or pay for a telephone. In 2019, 5.6% of the EU’s population - 24 million people - found themselves in this situation. The risk of increased poverty is especially high for young people, those with low levels of education, and single-parent families, especially those headed by women. The highest levels of severe deprivation in the EU last year were in Bulgaria (19.9%), Greece (15.9%) and Romania (12.6%). Portugal also has over 2 million people in poverty or social exclusion, and unemployment is set to double in 2020.

The United Prayer Rising Europe team are planning an inspirational and epic programme of worship, prayer and teaching across three days – 30th June and 1st and 2nd July.  We believe God is going to release something special as we gather online together - in unity this summer.  Prayer is key to any move of God, and we believe our prayers will shake the continent for Jesus once again.

Our vision this year is based on the theme of ‘An Open Door’.  We aim to invite people across nations, generations and denominations - to open the door for a great move of God across Europe. We are expectant of tens of thousands of people being reached and taking part through the online UPRising Europe 2020 livestreams. 

More info is at www.uprisingeurope.org  and on social media at @uprisingeurope

Do join us!

JJ Waters - Event Director

UPRising Europe

Already the media are saying that a second, more deadly, wave of coronavirus is expected to hit Europe this winter. Europe's top WHO official, Dr Hans Kluge, warns that the second spike could coincide with outbreaks of other infectious diseases. He issued a stark warning to countries beginning to ease their lockdown restrictions, saying, ‘Now is the time for preparation, not celebration’; adding as the number of cases of Covid-19 in countries such as the UK, France and Italy begin to fall, it did not mean that the pandemic was coming to an end. The epicentre of the European outbreak is now in the east, with the number of cases rising in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, has outlined her vision of Europe's future ahead of taking over the rotating EU presidency, saying the pandemic will be a 'stress test' for the bloc. The presidency is responsible for directing the Council's work on legislation, ensuring cohesion between member states, and supervising the continuity of the EU agenda. She welcomed the proposal for a 750-billion euro rescue fund announced by Ursula von der Leyen on 27 May, but said more still needs to be done. She has previously said that Europe is facing its biggest crisis since the EU was founded and wants the bloc to take more global responsibility in handling the fallout from the pandemic, especially as ties with the USA remain strained. The US is Europe’s most important partner, but there are currently more difficulties than Europe would like.

Archbishop Wojciech Polak has called on the Church hierarchy to launch proceedings following the release of a documentary telling the story of two brothers who sought to confront the priest who allegedly abused them as children. The Vatican is expected to assign an investigator to the case. The film, ‘Hide and Seek’, has been viewed over 1.9 million times on YouTube and is the second documentary on the subject by Marek and Tomasz Sekielski. Poland plans to double jail terms for paedophiles, and the Pope has made it mandatory for clergy to report abuse after victims failed to bring to account those in the Church who were responsible for covering up their abuse. A senior bishop allegedly knew about the allegations for years without taking any action.