Being in Europe

From 17 to 19 June the general secretaries of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe met in Vilnius, capital of Lithuania, for their annual meeting, dedicated this year to a crucial issue for the Church in Europe: the new evangelization. The meeting was attended by the secretaries of the 28 Bishops’ Conferences that are members of the CCEE, which promoted it. The bishops were welcomed by the general secretary of the Bishops’ Conference of Lithuania and other members of the Conference and given the chance to learn something more about the history of Lithuania and of the faith so heroically rooted in this people at the time of the Great War and during the period of the Communist regime. On 18 June the general secretaries devoted an afternoon’s work session, together with press officers and spokespersons of the Bishops’ Conferences, to debating the role of communication in the Church in a time of crisis and the use of the new media to proclaim the Gospel. In this context, the CCEE also presented the future portal of the Catholic Church in Europe, now in its final phase of preparation. After the meeting of the general secretaries had ended, that of the CCEE spokespersons began (from 18 to 21 June). Its aim was to review the situation of the commitment of the Church in Europe in the field of communication.New evangelization. The general secretaries debated and exchanged views on some particularly burning issues in our time for the Church and society. The basic question on the agenda was the new evangelization, which will also be discussed during the plenary assembly of the CCEE with the Presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences (Tirana, 29 September-2 October) and at the Synod of Bishops in 2012. “I am convinced – said Duarte da Cunha, CCEE general secretary – that evangelization, like everything else involving communication in the Church and of the Church, is not so much a question of good marketing strategy, which tries to respond to what people, following the dominant mentality, think they need, but must be the expression of the life in God that responds to the real needs of the human heart, even if these, unfortunately, are often dormant in Europe today. So, I think that our mission should start precisely with fostering our own personal communion with God and with our fellowmen”. The aim of these meetings, he added, “is to be together, to speak together, to share joys and sorrows, and to regard life and mission with the eyes of faith and with the hope that only God can give”. “It would be terrible if we were to think that the success of our work should be evaluated as if the Church were merely a business just like any other that was seeking its market share. We know that the Holy Spirit is the true protagonist of the creation of communion and mission and hence of communication too, and it is only by considering the reality of what He offers us, teaches us, and calls us to share, that we can evaluate our work”.Religious freedom. The bishops then tackled another issue that the Churches in Europe have close at heart: religious freedom and the attempts being made by some groups, even in our continent, to banish religious faith from the public arena. Another source of concern for the bishops is the demographic crisis with the ascertainment of an ageing Europe and the particular repercussions this is will have on the probable collapse of welfare systems. The CCEE then presented a report on its activities and a programme for next year. COMECE too has presented a report on the main questions in discussion within the EU in which the Church takes a close interest. Three important meetings of the Catholic Church to be held in Europe were also presented: World Youth Day in Madrid, the world meeting of families in Milan and the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin. All three meetings will be graced by the presence of the Pope and will tackle key aspects of the mission of the Church. The role of the spokespersons. 27 spokespersons and press officers of the European Bishops’ Conferences were present at Vilnius for their annual meeting. “One of the objectives of our meeting – explained Thierry Bonaventura, CCEE media officer, in a briefing to SIR Europe – was to examine the friendship and acquaintanceship between persons who share the same service of the Church in the world of information. The spokesperson, he said, is, so to say, a frontiersman who may have to endure some loneliness, due to the work he/she performs and the role he/she plays, that of being a bridge between two worlds, which even if they are not parallel, because they share and experience the same context and the same culture, at times struggle to communicate and dialogue with each other”. During the meeting, the spokespersons continued the reflection conducted during the previous days by the general secretaries and reflected on the new evangelization. “What seemed clear – said Bonaventura – is that the new evangelization is primarily an attitude that also requires of us an act of trust, because it is already implicit in the attempts at inculturation and transmission of the Gospel that are made on a daily basis in the various spheres of Christian life. It’s a transformation that makes no noise, causes no headlines and awaits to be communicated to everyone”.