A European Catholic network

The extension and consolidation of a European “Catholic network”: this, in the words of its general secretary ALDO GIORDANO, is the main result of the service performed over the years by the Ccee (Council of the European Bishops’ Conferences). During its plenary assembly 2006, held in St. Petersburg from 4 to 8 October, Cardinal Pèter Erdö, Archbishop of Budapest and Primate of Hungary, was elected as the new President of the organization that brings together the 34 Bishops’ Conferences of the continent. Cardinal Erdö, who will serve as President for the five-year period 2006-2011, succeeds Bishop Amédée Grab. As Vice-Presidents, the Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanic, was reconfirmed, while Archbishop Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux succeeds Cardinal Cormac Murphy-‘O Connor. We present a summary of the activities of the Ccee in the year between the 2005 assembly in Rome (28 September-2 October) and the plenary in St. Petersburg. CHURCH IN EUROPE . The annual meeting of the general secretaries of the Bishops’ Conferences of the continent, a valuable opportunity to discuss the role and tasks of the Churches in Europe, was held at Ljubljana (Slovenia) from 24 to 28 June. The spokespersons and press officers of the European bishops met at Maynooth (Ireland) from 20 to 23 July. The questions on the agenda included press freedom, respect for religions, and ecumenism in view of the Third European Ecumenical Assembly (EEA3, Sibiu 4-9 September 2007). A seminar for webmasters of the websites of the Bishops’ Conferences was held in Rome on 6-7 June, while the first meeting of Catholic press agencies was held in Vienna on 17-18 June. Two joint meetings of the executives of the Ccee and Comece (Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community) were held in 2006 to discuss mutual collaboration in the legal, ethical and political fields linked to the European institutions and the process of unification: the meetings were held in Rome in January and in Brussels in March; these were followed up by two telephone conferences in July and August. Other meetings were held with various European church organizations. ECUMENISM. At the end of the first stage of EEA3 (Rome, 24-27 January 2006), the joint Ccee-Cec committee met in the Italian capital (27-28 January). Main points on the agenda: the third Ecumenical Assembly, Islam and the process of the continent’s unification. The Ccee-Cec Committee for relations with Muslims in Europe met in Paris in September 2005; a second meeting was held in Rocca di Papa (Italy) in March 2006; and the third in Italy in October. GOSPEL AND EUROPEAN CULTURE. Apart from the seminars of European bishops on evangelization held in Rome since 1996, the European Vocations Service (Evs) held its annual meeting in Louvain (Belgium) from 29 June to 2 July. In the meantime a commission had been set up with the task of coordinating the work of the Ccee on evangelization in relation with other religions (Judaism, Islam, Buddhism…) and with European culture; its first meeting is scheduled for the end of 2006. SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES. In relation to catechesis in schools and universities, the European bishops with responsibilities for Catholic schools together with the representatives of the Ceec (the body that represents the Catholic schools of the continent) met in Rome in October 2005. Again in Rome, the bishops and national delegates of catechesis met in May 2006, while in June the bishops and delegates of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe met to discuss religious education in schools. As regards the universities, the annual meeting of national delegates of university ministry met, again in Rome, on 1st October 2006, in preparation for the European meeting of university teachers planned for 2007. MIGRATIONS AND SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS. With regard to the pastoral care of migrants, the congress for bishops and national delegates (Stubicke Toplice, in Croatia, October 2005), and the annual meeting of national directors, held at Siguenza (Spain) in September 2006, should be recalled. Two significant events were promoted by the Ceem (European Episcopal Commission for the Media): a congress on media and language of the young at Warsaw in 2005, and a meeting of the executive committee in Rome in March 2006. PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT. The main initiatives of the Ccee in the field of environmental protection included the publication of the findings of the six consultations held on the issue by the Ccee, the creation of a website for ongoing discussion, and the setting up of an ecumenical workgroup in preparation for EEA3.