Dialogue does not mean silencing difficulties” “

The theme chosen for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, “My peace I give to you” (Jn 14:23-31), places the reflection on peace at the centre. “The Churches want to work for a peace based on justice and reconciliation. But if they are to make their witness credible and favour the peace process, they must first of all ensure that peace reigns between each other and within themselves”. The conviction is that of the archbishop of Athens, Msgr. Nikolaos Foskolos, president of the Greek Bishops’ Conference. SIR interviewed him.¤ How can ecumenical dialogue favour peace? “Peace and unity between the various Christian faiths cannot but have positive repercussions on peace in the world. The Gospel message is clear: the world shall believe once charity and concord reign among mankind. The religious wars in former times caused enormous damage and pernicious consequences for peace. Contrariwise the unity of Christians can give rise to a time of concord and peace”. There is a good deal of talk of ‘grassroots’ and ‘institutional’ ecumenism to indicate two speeds for this process. Do you agree with this view? “It is a de facto reality. We are living a two-speed ecumenism. In Greece we know this very well: at the institutional level many efforts are being made to bring the Churches closer together. The people, by contrast, do so with less effort, they’re more ecumenical. The leaders of the religious communities must try to reduce the disparity between the two speeds”. How? “For example by improving information on dialogue. At times different languages are used to describe the dialogue between the institutions and among the people. We need to give a kind of information respectful of the truth by showing everything that is being done and said for dialogue. I think that particular attention should be paid to specific actions that promote unity, without passing over in silence the difficulties which undoubtedly exist”. It would, in any case, be unrealistic to remain silent about them… “I’ve never been in favour of an ecumenism that consists of nothing but kisses and embraces. Sometimes I think there is rather too much optimism on this subject: a certain optimism that arises from apparently ecumenical attitudes. We need to speak clearly in ecumenical dialogue, without hiding some truths in order not to displease anyone. We need to show ourselves as we truly are, only then shall we be better respected and won’t create illusions. We need to speak to each other in truth and in respect for Christian charity. By passing over the difficulties in silence, we don’t make progress”. Ecumenical dialogue cannot be separated from interreligious dialogue. How can a divided Christianity relate to other faiths? “Interreligious dialogue presents a greater difficulty precisely due to the divisions within Christianity. It’s difficult to begin a dialogue with other faiths when there are different points of views between Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox. That a united Christianity can dialogue better with other faiths is undoubtedly true”. 2004 is the year of European enlargement. Many countries with an Orthodox majority in Eastern Europe fear they will lose their own social and religious identity as a result. How can the Churches dispel this fear? “2004 is not only the year of enlargement but also the 800th anniversary of the 4th Crusade [ 1202-1204, called by Innocent III] in which Constantinople was conquered and sacked, as too was the church of Hagia Sophia, and a Latin hierarchy installed in place of the eastern one. The negative repercussions of these events are still present in the Orthodox mentality. It’s an attitude that could change in response to concrete facts, those called for by Vatican Council II. That would be one way of rediscovering the common European roots that the Pope never tires of recalling and of breathing with the ‘two lungs’ of our Continent.