Like a bunch of flowers” “” “

Can Christians and Muslims pray together? The joint “Islam in Europe” Committee, including members of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CEEC) and Conference of European Churches (CEC), has tried to give an answer to this question, proposing in a study paper a series of reflections on the difficulties and problems that common prayer gives rise to in the various Churches. The document (available in various languages on the website www.ccee.ch) offers, in an appendix, a series of useful models, examples and texts, covering all occasions: rites for the celebration of marriage, models for a ceremony to close the school year, examples of morning prayer (“My God, I thank you for this day that is beginning. I offer it to you like a bunch of flowers”), of grace before meals (“May the joy of this meal be also that of many other families on earth!”), or as a prayer to ask for forgiveness. Also in the appendix, the Churches propose a series of Christian and Moslem texts that could be used in common meetings: the prayer of St. Francis or the Moslem litany of the 99 “names of God”. The CCEE and CEC have also recently published a document drawn up by the “Islam in Europe” Committee to “help the Churches to come to terms with the challenges of meetings with Muslims”(cf. SIR 80/2003). A premise. The document explains that “one cannot speak of agreement between the Churches” on common prayer and that the materials gathered in the appendix can only be referred “to some parts of Europe… the examples cited come from France, Germany, Holland, Great Britain and Spain”. The theological reflections formulated on the question are also various. In Protestant thought, “God acts not only among Christians, but also throughout the whole world”. So, Christians, though they cannot join in Moslem liturgical prayer, can be “respectfully present”. The Orthodox point of view is different. Due to various factors (historical context and theological motivations) in the traditionally Orthodox regions of Europe, the Orthodox Churches have not opted for common prayer. Occasions for prayer. “Nonetheless – observes the joint CCEE/CEC Committee – there are in practice many examples of events in which Moslems and Christians join together even in a consciously religious way”. For what do they pray? “The situations that require prayer – reply the Churches – are usually not planned in advance, but are a response to events in public life”: an accident, a national disaster or an international conflict. These are all occasions in which Christians and Moslems “can have the desire to express their solidarity through prayer to comfort the families of the victims or to invoke peace”. But there are also, so to say, more everyday occasions: in primary schools, for example, the beginning and end of the school year are sometimes celebrated by prayers and hymns. The question is: can Moslem children be excluded from such celebrations? And if they take part in them, ought they not to be able to say a prayer of their own religious tradition? Also under discussion are the places of common prayer: should they be churches, mosques, or neutral venues such as schools, open places, hospitals? “Usually – reply the Churches – the contingent situation will determine the place. It’s not impossible to meet together in a church or in a mosque, but that must be agreed beforehand by all the groups involved”. Guidelines. The Churches urge that the question be tackled “in the perspective of reconciliation, not of aggression”, and as a way of putting into practice the ecumenical precept: “join together with others whenever you can, but don’t ignore the differences”. The document ends by proposing some guidelines that should be borne in mind: all the participants must be suitably prepared; the approval of the responsible Christian and Moslem authority is indispensable; the various aims and contents of common prayer must be discussed beforehand.