Cec: the Churches and the challenge of peace

“The European Churches and the challenges of peace, security and reconciliation”: the theme will be debated by the 24 members of the “Church and Society” Commission of the CEC (Conference of European Churches) together with a group of experts from over 20 nations of Europe at the annual plenary meeting due to be held at Igtuna Stiftelsen (Stockholm) from 29 April to 3 May. The meeting – explains a CEC press release – will analyse the role of the political institutions, NGOs and Churches in the field of peace, security and reconciliation. It will review current conflicts and the responses given to them. The theme of terrorism, of course, will also be discussed; the participants in the Plenary will analyse the measures adopted by the institutions to combat this scourge. “For decades – explains Rudiger Noll, chairman of the “Church and Society” Commission – Christians and some sectors of the Churches have developed skills in conflict prevention, the non-violent management of conflict and the process of reconciliation after conflict. I doubt however whether these skills have been fully exploited either by the Churches themselves or by the institutions. The plenary hopes to help reinforce the role of the European Christian Churches in this field”.