From a small Church in Europe

An unexpected message to European Churches was delivered from a small East European Church.It was conveyed a few days ago from Chisinau, the venue of the First Social Week of the Moldavian Church, titled “The courage to grow near the forlorn”.If we bear in mind the past and the present of this land we will see the signs of the incredible vitality of the small community led by Bishop Anton Cosa.The long endured oppression, the widespread poverty and the country’s social situation marked by tragically high percentages of migrating women, testify to the population’s suffering and to their yearning to recover.Catholics – a very small minority – have understood that recovery and hope had to be cultivated whilst healing from the wounds inflicted by Marxist dictatorship to people’s minds and souls.It’s an upward path with very few resources along the way. That Catholic minority didn’t hesitate to make the first steps, and with the first Social Week, they gave a clear sign to the Country, a sign that is shared also by the brothers in faith belonging to the Orthodox and Baptist Churches, that wished to be present during the three days. This ecumenical sensitivity is in itself a message of hope and dialogue also for the other Churches of Europe. The Catholic citizens of the Republic of Moldova, who are aware that they are not alone in the European continent, asked Italian and French Catholics to share their experiences to highlight the prospect and value of walking together along the paths of Europe. And precisely that joint Evangelical witness, underlined by Bishop Cosa in the Week’s conclusions, brings together Catholics’ social commitment and the new evangelization in the Moldovan land. It is the unavoidable – albeit spontaneous and beautiful – coincidence of these two aspects of Christian witness, since the values that involve the human person are always non-negotiable values. Such inalienable values support human life in all seasons and in all places. The courage to grow near the forlorn, the theme of the Social Week of Moldavia, which SIR Europe has followed step by step, has resumed, thus giving renewed impetus to the European itinerary of the Catholic Church. Such itinerary unfolds in a continent that is facing the ordeal of the ongoing crisis. It is a token of Christian faith, which draws the force and inspiration needed to voice the needs of the most fragile ones from the contemplation of the Word. The Church thus voices the reasons of Christian hope to the political, economic and financial realms, as her specific contribution. The Church speaks out to condemn the cynicism of powers, and most of all, to be the guide along the path leading to the enhancement of those inalienable values without which those powers would collapse, as Europe’s recent history has taught us. This is what happened in Chisinau, in a land that has experienced tragedies, and which through such memories looks up at the European Union with realism and critical wisdom, sentiments are the opposite of skepticism. And perhaps, in its humbleness, that message is intended as an encouragement to the Churches of Europe in this 2011, that marks the fortieth anniversary of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences. It is an encouragement to give not one, but thousands of faces to the new evangelization, granting visibility to the credibility of a Church that decides to live with increasing love and intelligence a difficult chapter of European common history.