The thread of hope

“That Christians may find in the crucified and risen Christ, heart of the faith, light for the ecumenical process and make their own contribution to the European challenges of secularisation, the meeting between cultures and religions, European unification and the dialogue between Europe and the other continents”: that, Monsignor ALDO GIORDANO , general secretary of the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE), explained to SIR, is the dual objective of the process of preparation for the Third European Ecumenical Assembly /EAA3), due to be held in Sibiu, in Romania, from 4 to 8 September 2007 on the theme “The light of Christ shines upon all: hope for renewal and unity in Europe”. The assembly in Sibiu is the third stage in a process begun in Basel in 1989 with EAA1 and continued with EAA2 in Graz in 1997. It’s an ecumenical journey of which we present the most significant stages below. FROM VANCOUVER TO BASEL. The process of EEA1 (Basel, Switzerland, 15-21 May 1989) was begun by the Conference of the European Churches (CEC, an umbrella organization representing Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches in Europe). It was a response to the appeal that came out of the Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Vancouver, in Canada, in 1983, and that had urged all the Churches to begin “a process of commitment to peace, reconciliation, justice and safeguard of the creation”. The CEC responded to this appeal by encouraging its member Churches to contribute to this process and also invited the CCEE to participate in it. After careful discernment, the CCEE accepted the invitation and together with CEC began work on preparing the assembly in Basel. PEACE IN JUSTICE was the theme of EAA1, which opened on 15 May 1989 (Pentecost Monday) and ended on 21 May (Holy Trinity Sunday). It was attended by 700 delegates from all European countries, representatives of the mass media and thousands of visitors. EAA1 fostered the first major meeting of Christians from all over Europe since the time of the great schism between East and West in 1054. At once a study conference and church jamboree, EAA1 “took place in an atmosphere of solidarity and Christian hope that left an indelible impression on all who had participated in it and spontaneously led to the birth of trust”, recalls VIOREL IONITA , of CEC. “Many – emphasises Ionita – claim it was especially the Oriental Churches that found in it the impetus to enter into the movement for freedom and democracy. It was just in 1989 – he continues – that the Hungarian government opened its own frontiers to Austria, and that the Churches of Eastern Germany played a central role in the non-violent movement that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall”. Three main recommendations emerged from EAA1: first, dedicating a period of 8-10 days each year to prayer, discussion and action for justice, peace and the safeguard of the creation; second, setting up an ecumenical workgroup to promote the process after Basel; and third, holding a second ecumenical assembly. RECONCILIATION AND DIALOGUE. In February 1995 the CCEE and the CEC began to work for this second assembly, scheduled for 1997 on the theme “Reconciliation: gift of God and source of new life”. EEA2 was held at Graz, in Austria, from 23 to 28 June 1997, with the aim of being, as its letter of invitation explains, “a meeting of the whole people of God and all the peoples of our society”. Over 700 official delegates of the 124 member Churches of CEC and of the 34 Bishops’ Conferences of the CCEE participated in it. The work was also followed by 150 representatives of ecclesial and ecumenical organizations, guests from other continents and religious communities, and over 10,000 Christians from all over Europe. “Dialogue” was the key term of the Assembly which adopted a final Message, a basic document with fundamental declarations of principle and a series of practical Recommendations. TOWARDS THE CHARTA OECUMENICA. The second of these Recommendations invited all the Churches in Europe to “draw up a common document that would contain the fundamental ecumenical rights and duties and deduce from them a series of directives, rules and criteria that would help the Churches, their leaders and all their members to distinguish between proselytism and Christian witness, as well as between fundamentalism and genuine fidelity to the faith, and, lastly, to define, in an ecumenical spirit, the relations between the majority and minority Churches”. According to Ionita, “this recommendation was the point of departure for the process of drawing up the Charta Oecumenica , which can be considered the most important initiative to come out of EAA2 and which was signed at the ecumenical meeting in Strasbourg on 22 April 2001″. “It is essential to reinforce collaboration between the CEC and the CCEE and hold further European ecumenical assemblies”, says the fourth point of the Charter which, concludes Ionita, represents the “framework for the process leading to EEA3 and for the assembly itself”.