News
30 December 2011
Panayote Dimitras (founder of the Humanist Union of Greece) and some of his colleagues in the Greek Helsinki Monitor (affiliated to the International Helsinki Federation) have won a case against Greece at the European Court of Human Rights. In their work under the Helsinki process, they frequently have to make depositions or give evidence in court. Despite constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion or belief, Greek law requires that as a default they have to… read more »
In the 2011 Czech census, 34% of the total recorded population of 10,562,214 said they had no religious beliefs. A further 45% chose not to answer this optional question. Roman Catholics were 10% (1.1 million, down from 2.7 million ten years ago) and another 4% named another denomination or religion while 7% simply said they were religious without saying what they were. The results confirm the status of the Czech Republic as one of the… read more »
19 December 2011
Massimo Redaelli writes: “With 6 billion Euro per year, Italy could accomplish miracles.” This is the slogan on the maxi-posters of the new campaign by UAAR that earlier today were posted around Genova, and that tomorrow will cover the streets of Venice, too. After the notoriety gained by the website “The Cost of the Church” (the first detailed list of the fiscal privileges and the economic contributions the Church enjoys), the association decided to… read more »
1 December 2011
On 30 November 2011, President Buzek invited the non-confessional organisations to a meeting in the European Parliament to discuss its implementation of the Article 17 dialogue. This took place after the Article 17 “summit” with the three EU Presidents, reported here. Unfortunately the President was unable to attend until the last minute or two (he had to preside at a plenary session of the Parliament which also drew away for much of the time the three… read more »
The third annual “summit” meeting of “philosophical and non-confessional” organisations with the three EU Presidents under Article 17 was held on November 30. The press conference: Presidents Buzek, Barroso and van Rompuy. David Pollock is between the first two; Pierre Galand at the extreme right. David Pollock took advantage of it to expose the dissatisfaction of the humanist and secularist movement with the way the Commission is implementing the dialogue under Article 17. The EHF… read more »
[Français] [Deutsch] [Italiano] On the occasion of the World Aids Day, 1 December 2011, the European Parliament adopted a resolution about the EU’s work to fight against AIDS in the European Union and its neighbouring countries. This resolution defines the position of all political groups in the EP. The text underlines the necessity of strengthening EU and member states’ action to fight against HIV, by increasing access to exhaustive information, testing and efficient protection and… read more »
29 November 2011
The EHF has called for religious influence on EU-funded research to be eliminated. At present, funding of research using embryonic stem cells is banned – the result of religious lobbying when the current framework was agreed. The Catholic church, in its response to a new and wide-ranging EU consultation on the framework for future scientific research, has said the ban should be maintained and even extended. It has even called for research to be commissioned specially designed… read more »
23 November 2011
The EU Ombudsman is taking seriously the EHF’s complaint about the EU Commisssion’s approach to the Article 17 dialogue with us and in particular its treatment of our request for a dialogue seminar. In a letter to the EHF dated 15 November, he tells us of the questions he has put to the Commission. See here for an EHF press release, dated 23 November. For the EHF’s complaint, see here . For the Commission… read more »
16 November 2011
Matt Cherry writes on the IHEU website: The inauguration of Michael D. Higgins as President of Ireland on Friday, November 11 2011, broke new ground by including a ‘reflection’ by a Humanist. Susie Kennedy, a representative of the Humanist Association of Ireland, spoke at the ceremony immediately after an inter-faith service. The President-elect specifically requested a female Humanist celebrant to ‘broaden the range and diversity of the occasion’. In her statement at the presidential inauguration,… read more »
14 November 2011
Khalid Saeed is a Pakistani and he is also an atheist. He fled from Pakistan in 2009 to Sweden, where his brother has lived for many years. His request for asylum has just been rejected by the Swedish authorities. The EHF, together with the International Humanist and Ethical Union, has joined Humanisterna, our Swedish member organisation, in asking the Swedish authorities to reverse their decision. Our letter (in Swedish) is here; an English version is… read more »