Yesterday and today

The Ecumenical commitment for the Family declared in the First Catholic-Orthodox Forum in Trent, communion and solidarity encounters with African Churches, continuation of the Muslim-Christian dialogue and Europe’s commitment for Catholic schools. These are the 4 major areas of intervention that marked the activity of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) in the year 2008. On December 18 the CCEE Presidency, chaired by Cardinal. Péter Erdõ, archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, was granted audience with Benedict XVI who was briefed on CCEE 2008 achievements and on the 2009 Working Program. Purposes of the CCEE. CCEE’s primary task – states a press release issued on the occasion of the papal audience – is to serve collegiality and cooperation among the current 33 Bishops’ Conferences in Europe, the Archdiocese of Luxembourg and of the Principality of Monaco and the diocese of Chisinau (Moldavia). Thus, the CCEE plenary Assembly is part of this framework, to which belong, as members, the Presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences. The Plenary addresses urgent issues in the area of European current affairs, of the life of the Churches and ecumenism. As relates to the latter aspect, CCEE actively cooperates with CEC, the Conference of European Churches, which 125 Churches of the Orthodox and Protestant traditions are members of. “A third major chapter of CCEE activities is the result of specific questions and challenges faced by the Churches in the realm of European culture and society. The pastoral environments where cooperation between Countries and Bishops Conferences is viewed as an urgent endeavour include: the media, migrations, vocations, Catechesis, school and University; the environment; the economy. Ongoing cooperation is carried out with COMECE as relates to EU issues. Three “declarations”. Three documents on the family, Africa and Muslim-Christian dialogue were published in the year 2008 at the conclusion of CCEE encounters on these themes. The “Trent Joint Declaration on the Family” was adopted as a result of the First European Catholic-Orthodox Forum on December 14. In the document, Catholics and Orthodox voice their concern over: “the attempt to change language and introduce ambiguity in international documents with the ideological introduction of the gender theory”. “Our appeal to political and social leaders is the following: the family is not an outdated notion! Rightly rediscovered, it is the future”, is stated in the document. While on November 21 Bishops convened in Liverpool on the occasion of the seminar organized by CCEE and by SECAM (the Symposium of the Bishops Conferences of Africa and Madagascar). On the occasion, the bishops drew up a message requesting all Bishops’ Conferences in Europe and in Africa to establish “where needed, appropriate structures for the study of migrations, for the reception and the pastoral care of migrants” and to perform “a prophetic advocacy role” in their favour, to solicit “the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations” to “promote and defend the rights and dignity of voluntary and involuntary migrants all over the world”. Lastly, in October, on the invitation of CCEE and CEC, 45 representatives of Christian Churches and Muslim communities of 16 European nations convened in Malines-Bruxelles. Also in this case, the encounter was concluded with a final statement that points out: “As Christians and Muslims we declare that we are both citizens and faithful, not citizens or faithful. It is our belief that the future of European societies will largely depend on our will – as citizens and people of faith – to preserve and develop the cultural and religious foundations of Europe”.Appointments for 2009. The year will commence with an encounter (Munich, January 19-21) of the Commission for Relations with Muslims in Europe, represented by CCEE and CEC members. In February (19-22) will be held the annual meeting in Esztergom, Hungary, of the joint CCEE-CEC Committee chaired by Cardinal Peter Erdõ and by Rev. Jean-Arnold de Clermont. In May, the European Congress on Catechesis is scheduled in Rome that will address the theme, “The Christian community and the first Proclamation” while in July, also in Rome, will be held the European Congress of University Students on the topic “New disciples of Emmaus. In the University as Christians”. The CCEE Plenary Assembly will take place in Paris on October 1-4 2009, while the meeting of the CCEE Commission and SECAM will be held on October 26 in Rome. In November (11/12), also in Rome, is scheduled the annual meeting of press officers and spokespersons of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe, followed by a meeting of the European Bishops’ Conference for the Media on “Internet culture and the Church”.