End of the Third European Ecumenical Assembly
Benedict XVI, on his visit to Austria for the 850th anniversary of the foundation of the Sanctuary of Mariazell, during the Vespers lit a candle coming from Sibiu to pray for unity and for establishing an ideal connection with the about 2,500 delegates of the Third European Ecumenical Assembly which took place in Sibiu, Romania, from 4th to 9th September. The Pope recalled on several occasions, in Austria, the ecumenical event organised by Ccee (Council of European Bishops’ Conferences) and Cec/Kek (Conference of European Churches), ten years after the II Assembly of Graz. The first one had been in Basel in 1989.THE RECEPTION OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES. Great was the reception that the local Christian communities gave to the delegates, inviting them to several celebrations and prayers. “It is a joyful opportunity, that of praying together”, said a young Italian after Mass in the Roman-Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity. “You cannot imagine for how long we have been waiting for these guests, and how glad we are to see you here”, added a woman from Sibiu. “As long as we pray together, ecumenism is alive”, noticed a Lithuanian delegate. The evening services were held in the Orthodox cathedral and in another two Orthodox Churches, in the Lutheran Cathedral and in the Johanniskirche, in the Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Reformed and Baptist Churches. Christians from all confessions were invited to take part in the ecumenical prayers hosted by the Community of Taizé and Iona. “ LIVING LIKE CHILDREN OF LIGHT” to “leave a mark and change the world”. This is the core of the meditation that has been proposed this morning by the woman bishop of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Germany, ROSEMARIE WENNER . “In our time, affected by profit and the pressure for performance – said bishop Wenner -, people are hungry for goodness”. For the Churches, this realisation must have an impact on “effective action”, because, “if we take the Bible seriously – said the Evangelical bishop -, God sides with those who have been deprived of what they need. God sides with the poor. God includes the outcasts in His community”. “May God grant us to live today – concluded the bishop – like those who are enlightened by Christ, so that, as the children of light, we may bear fruits of goodness, justice and truth”. FAITH AND LOVE FOR THE FUTURE OF EUROPE. We need a life overflowing with faith and love in this Europe that has few visions for the future”: it was said by Andrea Riccardi, founder of Comunità di Sant’Egidio. “The Christians of Europe over these days have a great opportunity to look together at our continent in the world, if they feel this assembly is not just a ritual fact”, began Riccardi, criticising “the nationalistic passions that make one blind to reality”. “It is an anti-historical position”, he specified, since “the majority of the small or medium-size European countries cannot face, alone, the big challenges of the world, the confrontation with the economies and the civilisations of the big Asian countries, such as China and India”. “Europe cannot become a sheltered island, like a fortress”, he warned, because “it is not by spotting enemies on the horizon that one finds the courage to be oneself, an often-easy choice in which Christianity can be hoisted as a banner against any enemy”. So, “what we set out for ourselves and what we propose to Europe – he stated – is to no longer live for oneself”: “Christians must get rid of the fear and insatiable greediness that make us live for ourselves, powerless, withdrawn, taken up by petty family fights, within a present that is full of peace and wealth, without worrying about those who are outside Europe, who have no peace or a worthy life”. The responsibilities of the European Christians for creating peace in the world, he highlighted, “cannot leave out Africa” (“the test bench of the morality of international politics”) or the need for justice in the South of the world. KAREKIN II’S MESSAGE. The wish “to find a solution to the issues that question our Churches on the basis of mutual understanding, mutual respect ad a spirit of cooperation”. It was made by KAREKIN II , Supreme and catholicos Patriarch of all Armenians, in a message to the delegates. “Our Churches – states the text, published today – have plenty of challenges to face. We are the witnesses of the lack of love and peaceful cohabitation in social life; of the attempted abuse of spiritual and moral values for political purposes. Human rights are ignored and religious freedom is endangered in some European countries. We are more and more worried about the problems of the environment and climate change”. “Let’s try – he exhorted – to find the strength to meet peacefully and together to face the challenges of our Churches and our peoples”A TESTIMONY FROM ARMENIA. “Dear friends, there was a time when I lived in darkness, in the icy cold of a winter night”. This is the beginning of a “living letter”, namely, the testimony of rev. MESROP PARSAMYAN , from the Apostolic Church of Armenia. “I was born in Armenia during the Soviet period, when many people lived as if God did not exist – he said -. But I remember very well the day God spoke to me and warmed, with His love, Armenia, which had just been released from the chains of Soviet atheism”. “It was a Saturday morning in Summer and I was only 12 – he went on -. I had decided to join some sporty friends who were walking up to the monastery of Khor Virap”. “We covered 40 km under the hot sun and as we reached the monastery it was night”. After spending the night at the monastery, something new awaited him as he woke up: “That morning was totally different from any other and will always remain stamped in my soul”. After praying with the monks and partaking of their liturgies, “I felt as if something infinite but important had changed my soul”.LOTS OF IDEAS FROM THE AGORA. In one of the buildings near the tent where the plenary sessions are held, an “Agora” has been set up as a space with many stalls where the organisations and Churches from all over Europe present their work and hand out their materials. One of the stalls belongs to the Italian associations of Insieme verso Sibiu/Pax Christi Italia and Cipax and Osare la pace per fede and Sae. The organisations asked the delegates to support their ideas during the forums and plenary sessions, to put in practice the engagements set forth by the Charta oecumenica. They include the organisation of national or continental meetings on those issues that are “obstacles to a visible unity”, the introduction of ecumenical prayers in the rites of each Church, the promotion of youth meetings, the creation of a European ecumenical network for peace, and a network for the protection of the environment. In addition, they suggested that the Christian Churches should take a common position to “declare the possession of atomic weapons a sin against God and against humanity, to devote an Ecumenical Day to dialogue with Hebraism and a Day to dialogue with Islam”.EUROPE AND AFRICA, A SHARED FATE. “We can’t see how Europe can be saved and abandon Africa, or how Africa can face the challenges of its own development without Europe”: this was said by KPAKILÈ JOSEPH FELEMOU , from Guinea Conakry, president of Foguired, the Guinean Fund for Debt Remission. Felemou spoke this afternoon, at the Forum on Justice. “Young Africans – he said – now see the European man as if it were ready money, and the young Europeans see Africans merely as refugees and immigrants. But this is all false: it is for this distorted view that young Africans sacrifice their lives on the altar of illegal immigration; it is this distorted view that makes Europe infinitely far from Africa”. For very many people, “reaching Europe is the only life plan”, because the real problem “is the loss of hope and confidence in their world, in their institutions, sometimes even in their own families”. And while nowadays “Africa is culturally European” (school system, TV, clothing), there is a paradox: “The journey from Europe to Africa is very short: it only takes a half a day’s flight. But the way back is extremely long: to get to destination many Africans spend whole months and often lose their life”. So, Falemou asked to “shorten this distance” and “fight this deep injustice”.IDEAS FOR A FAIRER WORLD. At the Forum on Justice, the Middle East, the situation of the Romany people all over the continent, Eastern Europe, finally Africa, were high on the agenda. “Changing the world is possible, because justice is made of people and it can be changed by people”, commented the Norwegian INGRID NAESS HOLM from the association Changemakers. Special commitment was demanded by the young: “The Church must take a strong position on such issues as rights and war”, stated JENNIFER (YEE) HUNG , a British Catholic of Asian descent. According to ANDREI BANUS , from the Romanian Caritas, “the Church must reawaken in the people a sense of responsibility for the poor”. A CRY FOR HELP FROM THE ROMANY PEOPLE. A cry for help and a denunciation of the state of poverty and discrimination in which the Romany people live in Romania. It was given from the floor by GRUIA IOAN BUMBU , president of the National Agency for the Romany people of Romania, at the Forum on Justice. “Do not forget that the motto of this congress – he said – is ‘The light of Christ enlighten everyone’. The Romany people need light. And light means access to education, the right to a healthy life, to dignified living”. According to unofficial estimates, the Romany population in Romania is about 2/3 million, but only 500 thousand have been registered, because the majority prefer not to say they are Romany not to be discriminated against. Many of them can be seen in Sibiu, wearing their traditional dresses: the women with their long colourful skirts and handkerchiefs on their heads, the men with their black rimmed hats. But the condition in which they live is dramatic: a “vicious circle” – said their spokesman – made of lack of education that inevitably leads to unemployment, the lack of homes and health care. Poverty is aggravated by a deep discrimination of which they are the victims, not only in Romania but also in many other European countries. The Romany spokesman asked the Church to help them and to “join forces to improve the life of these people”.ECUMENICAL TWINSHIP OF PARISHES . A motion from the Christian Catholic delegation of the region Marche (Italy) proposes, “as a factual way”, the promotion of ecumenical twinships between Christian parishes and monasteries of all Christian confessions in Europe. It means creating, “in a consistent way, walks of fraternity” to “boost bonds of mutual acquaintance, prayer, dialogue and cooperation”. The idea is the fruit of a decade-old experience of twinships that is typical of the ecumenical life of the region Marche. These initiatives generate “an ecumenical movement that can give rise to a new sensitivity, open up new perspectives, help the different confessions living in the same area reconcile their memories”. The delegation asked the Churches of Europe to set up a centre to promote and coordinate such twinships. THE CHRISTIAN ALTERNATIVE. “The Christian lifestyle, made of asceticism and sharing, of the respect of God and the Creation, must be offered to society at this particular time in history”: this is the belief of the Metropolitan Bishop CHRYSTOPHER , Primate of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, who spoke during the Forum on the Creation. This lifestyle, he said, “must be offered as an alternative” to “save God’s creation”, “the future generations and all the living species, animals and plants”. The ascetic tradition, he highlighted, “teaches us that the answers to many questions that concern the environmental crisis must be found in the human heart, not in the sphere of economy, biology, technology or politics”. Another distinctive trait of Christianity should be sharing: “Whether we like it or not – he recalled – we consume more natural resources than our southern neighbours”. The Metropolitan Bishop Chrystopher ended his speech with a question: “Are we really entitled to go on like this? Will we keep obeying the king of this world who orders us one hundred times a day to buy, use and consume through to the end?”.A STREET SHOW. “Along the path of light”. This is the theme of the show, which enlivened the delegates’ night in the main square of Sibiu on Friday night. Organised by the Focolari, Comunità di Sant’Egidio and Comunione e Liberazione, the show alternated music, dancing, singing and experiences. At the end, some boys and girls went on stage with a lit candle in their hands. Testimonies included one from a group of Resita (Romania). “It is the road to unity – said PAL JOZSEF , a Catholic priest – on which I try to walk day after day. In Resita, we are already 20 priests from different churches who meet regularly to support each other in our pastoral life, by sharing both our achievements and our pains. This spirit of unity and fraternity can also be accomplished among our parishioners and can be felt in the civil life of our city”. Deeply felt is also the preparation to and participation in the week of prayer for the unity of Christians, which has been held in Resita for many years. “We come to give you – went on PETRU BERTENTIA , an Orthodox priest – a message of fraternity, and we pray God to support us until His wish is accomplished: that everyone will be one”.KNEELING FOR UNITY. “Today we state that we want unity, that we kneel down and pray for unity, and commit ourselves to work towards unity”: it was stated on September 8th by cardinal CORMAC MURPHY O’CONNOR , archbishop of Westminster, during the sermon at Mass in the Byzantine rite, under the big tent. “Some say the ecumenical spirit is starting to fade away – commented card. Murphy O’Connor – or that there is no desire for unity. To these people, I say no!”. According to the archbishop of Westminster, “our meeting today is a great ecumenical event, but ecumenism is not made of great events alone, it is also made of minor events, in your homes, in your parishes, in the villages and in the cities”. Because “it is from our homes, from our streets, after having been here, that we contemplate Europe: our continent and our home”. “The values of the world were born in Europe – he stated -. The values of Europe are Christian. What a shame, instead, to see so many people and politicians unable to accept this fact in our history”. “Our testimony and that of many communities from the Atlantic Coast to the Black Sea – he concluded – prove, instead, that Christianity is alive. It is crazy to deliberately ignore the faith of the Europeans or despise their beliefs”.THE FEAST OF MARY’S BIRTH. On September 8th, the feast of Mary’s birth, seven liturgies in different confessions were held in Sibiu. “The Orthodox ecclesiastic year begins on September 1st, Autumn – explained the Metropolitan Bishop DANIEL CIOBOTEA , from Romania, in the sermon at the Orthodox Mass – because, in the Judaic tradition, the history of mankind began in Autumn. The feast of God’s Mother’s birth has been established by the Church on the eighth day of the ecclesiastic year, because the number eight symbolises eternity or the endless life”. Daniel recalled that “some of the Western Christian founders of the European Union wanted all Europe to be put under the protection of God’s Mother”. “Regrettably – he stated – this wonderful intention has been forgotten, and the blue flag with the twelve stars in a circle has been construed from a secularising perspective, with no religious meaning at all. Despite this, the Christians of Europe are largely enriched from a spiritual point of view when they do not separate the Sacrament of the Church from the Sacrament of the Virgin, the humble, merciful one, and invoke Her more and more often in the prayers for Christian unity, for the families and for reconciliation within society”. EUROPE NEEDS CHRISTIANS. “We cannot keep lagging behind. Europe needs Christians, it needs the Christian roots that are the foundations of this continent”. It was said to SIR, at the end of the assembly, by the Metropolitan Bishop GENNADIOS DI SASSIMA (Ecumenical Patriarchate), co-president of the Preparatory Committee. “It has been a great spiritual experience – he added -. We think Sibiu will end a credible message which will challenge today’s world and the building of a new Europe”. The Assembly – explained the Metropolitan Bishop – took place in “a country that has just joined Europe after many years of Communist rule. It is a country with great hopes, and this spiritual pilgrimage of the Churches of Europe proves that the Christians are willing to keep working together, showing that living alone is no longer possible. We need each other. The East needs the West. We can no longer see each other as a danger, but as brothers”. “This Assembly – went on the Metropolitan Bishop – is a step in God’s will which has been accomplished through many years of work and preparation, with many difficulties. All the Churches of Romania – the Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox ones – have done all they could for this Assembly. We hope the message of the Churches from Sibiu, which is a message to all the Churches and Christians of Europe – will move the hearts and will drive many people to take action now”. ORTHODOX-CATHOLIC DIALOGUE. After the Sibiu experience, the Metropolitan Bishop Gennadios is already looking to the future of ecumenical dialogue and recalls that in two weeks’ time, and precisely from 9th to 15th October, Ravenna will host the X Plenary Session of the Mixed International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. “With the Vatican, and therefore the Catholic Church – he explains -, we are, as it were, on the same spiritual wavelength. We hope the dialogue we will have in two weeks’ time in Ravenna may be a step forward. All dialogues are difficult. But they must be difficult to be effective. If they are not difficult, they lead nowhere. It is difficult because we are men, and we are very rigid men”. After nearly six years at a standstill, the Mixed Dialogue Commission convened last year in Belgrade and developed a text that acts as an introduction to the most relevant issue of the controversy between the Catholic and the Orthodox Church: the role of the Bishop of Rome in the Church of God and in the communion between the Churches. The Mixed Commission is composed of 30 Orthodox members and 30 Catholic members.NO TO A TAILOR-MADE CHRISTIANITY. Sometimes we might “be tempted to make a selection of Christ’s Word, to understand, in the text of the Gospel, only those passages that suit us. The big risk here is a tailor-made Christianity”. Card. Jean-Pierre Ricard, archbishop of Bordeaux and vice-president of Ccee (Council of European Bishops’ Conferences), drew attention to this problem at the heart of his homily at Mass on the last day of the Third Ecumenical Assembly. To avoid this risk, added the cardinal, a revision is required which must be done “from a personal perspective, from the perspective of the community, and from the perspective of the church”. A process, he specified, that might seem “too hard sometimes”, but, he stated, with reference to the unity of the Christians, “don’t let’s forget that this appeal of the Lord is not just the expression of a need, but also the promise of a gift. It is Christ who gives us the strength to walk with Him”. With reference to these words, the president of the Romanian Bishops’ Conferences, the archbishop of Bucharest, mgr. IOAN ROBU , in his address after Mass, added that the Catholics’ great participation in the Sibiu Assembly “is the sign of their will to move on, with increasing awareness, along the ecumenical journey; it is a visible presence that recalls an invisible presence”.by M.Chiara Biagioni and Patrizia CaiffaSIR correspondents from Sibiu
