Europe

Listen to the shorter BosNewsLife News version via Vatican Radio:  By BosNewsLife News Center with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos BABICE/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- A bust has been unveiled in the Czech Republic to Catholic priest Václav Drbola, who was executed by the previous Communist regime. The ceremony comes amid efforts by the Catholic Church to overcome the recent wounds of history.

By BosNewsLife News Center SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND (BosNewsLife)-- The widow of Sheffield church organist Alan Greaves who was battered to death with a pick-axe handle on his way to a midnight worship service on Christmas Eve says she has forgiven those involved in the murder.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio. Click: BNLPoland Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife LUTSK/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Poland's president Bronislaw Komorowski was struck with an egg in north western Ukraine while marking the 70th anniversary of a notorious massacre during World War Two. The incident came after politicians of both nations attended a mass aimed at reconciliation, something Pope Francis had encouraged.

By BosNewsLife News Center with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos KIEV/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- A Ukrainian court has reportedly sentenced an elderly human rights activist, known for her fight against corruption and police abuse, to a psychological hospital resembling the Soviet-era, amid a wider crackdown on political opponents.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent reporting from Budapest, Hungary BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- In a major shift from their past policies Hungary's former Communists, now Socialists, want the country's top court to overturn religious legislation that they claim will make it difficult for smaller congregations to be recognized as churches and threatens social programs and religious education.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent reporting from Hungary BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- An influential group defending the rights of gypsies, also known as Roma, has welcomed a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that banning a Hungarian "far-right, anti-Roma and anti-Semitic" paramilitary group is lawful.

Listen to this BosNewsLife News report via Vatican Radio: Listen...   By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent reporting from Budapest, Hungary BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- The Conference of European Churches (CEC) began operating Tuesday, July 9, under a new but controversial Constitution that includes moving its original offices from Geneva to Brussels to improve ties with the European Union and between denominations.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service CAIRO/LONDON (BosNewsLife)-- The influential leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Britain announced three days of prayer as Egypt's minority Coptic Christians feared more violence in the aftermath of the mass killing of more than 50 Islamist protesters in clashes with Egyptian security forces.

By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest with BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Hungary on Monday, July 8, buried its former Prime Minister Gyula Horn, who played a daring role in the collapse of Communism throughout Europe and the reunification of Germany, by allowing thousands of East Germans to leave to the West when his nation was still a Soviet-occupied state

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Hungary's center-right government said Saturday, July 6, it had reached a multimillion dollar deal with a US-based Holocaust restitution organization on compensation for Hungarian survivors living abroad, prompting some angry reactions from former Nazi death camp inmates.