“We ask to pray for the Christians who will convene in Sibiu from 4th to 9th September, that God’s Spirit may strengthen their efforts for justice, peace and the preservation of the Creation”: this is the invitation made by the German Bishops Conference (Dbk) to the congregation on 31st August, in the run-up to the Third European Ecumenical Assembly of Sibiu, in Romania, which will be attended by Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Christians from all over Europe. “The spiritual and cultural condition of Europe stands out for its distance from God as well as for its pursuit of meaning and spirituality, for a new interest in religion”, comment the Bishops, who wish “Christians may increase their missionary bent”. The AEE3 will focus on some subjects which have already been addressed by previous ecumenical assemblies. According to the DbK, these are “awesome tasks”, “which now are based on different grounds but are still as important. Quite the opposite: they have now become more relevant and urgent”. “New challenges have come into being”: the “process of political unification, especially between the East and the West, the meeting with other religions, several migratory flows and a rapidly-evolving globalisation”. To these tasks, Christians are called “to make their contribution”.
