ECUMENISM
Burma: a letter from Rowan WilliamThe archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, wrote a letter to Archbishop of Myamar and bishop Yangon Stephen Than Myint Oo of the Anglican church in Burma, to express his closeness and solidarity to the victims of the Nargis cyclone. “I am heartened” – William writes – “to know relief efforts are underway to help hundreds of thousands of people who are without clean water, food and shelter. Our hearts grieve with all those who have lost their loved ones, their homes and their livelihoods. In the face of such losses, all I can offer in my prayers for you is the totality of the love of God, even in the face of all that on earth is disfigures by natural disaster.. Please be assured that your brother and sisters across the Communion are holding you in their prayers”.France: Council of Churches 20th Anniversary”During the last 20 years France’s Christians have learned to get to know each other and work together. Relations of esteem and friendship have entwined. The confrontation of ideas has marked each ecclesiastic traditions’ sensibility.” This is how the three leaders of the French Churches summarized in a press release the 20th anniversary of the Council of the Christian Churches in France that will be held on Wednesday May 14th in Paris at the Saint StÈphane cathedral (headquarter of the French Orthodox bishop’s assembly). The press release has been signed by card. AndrÈ Vingt-Trois for Episcopal French Conference, pastor Claude Baty for the Protestant Federation in France and metropolitan Emmanuel for the Assembly of Orthodox bishops. Founded in 1987, the Council of Churches has been aimed at creating a venue to share information, listen and talk” and “spur considerations and possible common initiatives.” This goal has been achieved: since 1987 Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox in France have supported initiatives and have taken a common stand on many issues such as migration policies, death penalty and torture, fight against arm smuggling, tombs and sacred venues violations. All of this is an encouragement to “future activities”.Italy: The first Romanian Orthodox bishopThe enthronement of his Excellency Siluan, the first bishop of the Italian Orthodox dioceses, was celebrated on May 8 in Saint Anastasio Church in Lucca (Tuscany). Many members of the Romanian Orthodox Church’s Holy Synod, headed by archbishop Iosif, metropolitan of the Romanian Orthodox Church in southern and western Europe, attended the event together with the Orthodox bishops in Italy, Catholic bishops, representatives of the State of Romania and Italy. In an interview to Sir Europe, Msgr. Iosif spoke of the need to ensure Romanian Orthodox believers “pastoral, sacramental and spiritual care.” “The top priority is the cure of the human being, who needs food for the heart, but also natural food in order to lead a decent and respectable life. Our people”, the bishop added, “live in situations of spiritual and physical uprootedness. I especially think about the poor, those who are alone, hospitalized, in prison. Many of them are inmates, some of which are abandoned minors. There is a lot to do but we are ready.” Msgr. Siluan will guide the 75 parishes in Italy, that include more then 85 priests and deacons. On ecumenical dialogue the bishop said: “There is a consolidated history of dialogue. We just have to follow our predecessors’ path”.Cec: Financial investments and ethical criteriaThe “Church and Society” Commission of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) together with “Oikocredit” and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, promoted a Conference on the commitment to socially responsible investment. Over 70 participants, representing churches and organizations from 20 countries attended the Conference that was held on May 6-7 in the European Parliament headquarter in Brussels. “The conference – a Cec statement says, “highlighted that Churches have a great potential for influencing corporations through their investment policies according ethical criteria” and that it is important to disprove the opinion that socially responsible diminish financial returns. “Instead the opposite can be true, particularly over the long term.”
