Dialogue is a principle” “

The delegaters of the 15 countries and central and eastern Europe, and representatives of twenty different Churches, met for three days in Budapest (27/30 November) for an exchange on the situation of ecumenism and on the process of the Charta oecumenica . This is the first time that the Council of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe (CCEE) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC) have convened a meeting of this kind, also in view of the contribution that the churches can give to the definition of the new European Union that will be enlarged by 10 new countries on 1st May 2004. On the conclusion of the consultation, the participants met the Council of the Churches of Hungary in Budapest and Cardinal Péter Erdö, Catholic archbishop of Esztergom- Budapest. A precious contribution for the new Europe. “If collaboration between the Churches of eastern Europe grows – say CCEE and CEC in a joint communiqué issued at the end of the meeting – this will also be a contribution to the West and to the new Europe. Today eastern Europe still bears the scars of the injuries inflicted on it by the previous authoritarian regime. But the strong spiritual impetus and the artistic and liturgical dimension of the East, may be a precious contribution to the life of Christianity in our secularised world. The meeting in Budapest was an important stage in this exchange and in this deepening of mutual knowledge, conducted in a climate of sincerity”. The Charta Oecumenica. Signed by the presidents of CCEE and CEC in April 2001, and now translated into almost all the European languages, the Charta Oecumenica is a document that contains the “guidelines for the growth of collaboration between the Churches in Europe”. Efforts to promote dialogue have been concentrated around it in recent months. “Dialogue – as was stressed in Budapest – is not a method for ecumenism, but a principle. And ecumenism is not optional, but essential”; that’s why the delegates of eastern Europe will try to embody the contents of the Charter in their various national situations. Ecumenical projects. From the reports of the various countries it emerged that there are many forms of ecumenical cooperation already in progress: in Albania, for instance, exchanges regularly take place between Orthodox and Catholic seminaries; in the Czech Republic, preparations have begun for an Ökumenischer Kirchentag, an ecumenical congress, in 2005; in Romania efforts are being made to achieve a common calendar so that Christians may celebrate the most important liturgical feasts together. In spite of tensions and still unresolved problems (e.g. in Ukraine, Russia, Greece), there is, in the view of CCEE and CEC, “a clear willingness to continue the dialogue and the ecumenical process, because there is a common legacy that must not be squandered and common problems that can only be tackled together”. The process of preparing the Third European Ecumenical Assembly in 2007 will begin in the months ahead . Study and prayer. In this stage of the ecumenical process of the Churches, a field of endeavour that seems particularly important is that of collaboration between universities and theological faculties of the various churches. In particular, the idea has been launched of founding a centre for ecumenical studies in eastern Europe. Even more important, it was underlined at the Budapest meeting, is the spiritual dimension of prayer and sharing between the various liturgical and monastic traditions. “It’s a source of great sadness – said one delegate – that we are incapable of expressing the gospel love in our relations with other Churches”.