CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
Cyprus: the appeal of the archbishop ChrysostomosIn the framework of the Cypriot presidency of the European Union the Archbishop of Cyprus, His Beatitude Chrysostomos II, said he hopes that Cyprus "will be a place where religious freedoms are respected and practiced with no restrictions". Archbishop Chrysostomos II delievered his speech at a seminar on freedom of religions and worship held in Nicosia on the initiative of the Representative of the Church of Cyprus at European Institutions, and of the "Church and Society" Commission of the Conference of European Churches (KEK). "If the need for continued religious freedom in Cyprus for European citizens and for you all is a just and urgent question – said Archbishop Chrysostomos in his opening remarks – for us in Cyprus this question is cause of deep pain and a fervent desire. We ask you, therefore, to exert your influence so that religious freedom becomes a reality for all citizens of Cyprus, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots". "We regret to say that, unfortunately, in the last 38 years, religious freedoms in the northern part of the island occupied by the Turks were neither respected nor enforced". In his speech, the Archbishop condemns the "systematic" destruction and looting "of places of worship and monuments, churches and monasteries, and all that is sacred to us, including our cemeteries". "In general – said the archbishop – they are attempting to destroy all evidence of the existence and presence of a Christian population in the north of Cyprus". "The Cyprus problem – then added Chrysostomos – has never been a problem regarding religion, because Turk-Cypriot Muslims and Greek-Cypriot Christians lived together in peace and harmony. That is why we have promoted dialogue with the Turkish Cypriot religious leadership and we continue to do so for the sake of justice and peace and mutual understanding. "There is, therefore, full consent and support so that in the occupied northern part of the island freedom of religion is respected by putting "an end to the looting of our sacred places". Protestants: Weber, new CCPE PresidentThe German Lutheran bishop of Braunschweig, Friedrich Weber, is the new president of the Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE). Weber was elected by the new CCPE Board composed of 13 representatives of Reformed, Lutheran, united and Methodist Churches of the Old Continent. The election was held on the occasion of the Seventh Assembly of the CCPE, which was held in Florence 20 to 26 September on the theme ""Free for the future". Weber succeeds the Swiss Reformed pastor Thomas Wipf. He has a long experience of ecumenical dialogue with the Catholic Church and with the Church of England. In February he will lead the CCPE delegation in talks with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in Vienna. In the Presidium were also elected the Reformed pastor Gottfried Locher, President of the Federation of Protestant Churches in Switzerland (FCES) and Klara Tarr Cselovszky, responsible for the Department of Ecumenical Affairs and Foreign Affairs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary. The Lutheran bishop of Austria Michael Bünker was re-elected to the office of Secretary-General. In the coming years the newly elected Presidium will incorporate the many suggestions that will come from the Meeting, including, primarily those related to the celebrations for the quincentenary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017. The event is described as holding great importance to give new impetus to the life of the churches serving in increasingly secularized societies.France: the Orthodox bishops on marriageWhile the debate on the extension of marriage to same-sex couples is getting hotter every day, on Tuesday October 2 the Orthodox bishops of France issued a firm statement underlining the importance of man/woman complementariness in the social institution of marriage. "Marriage is a traditional plurisecular institution that structures society, the family and interpersonal relations", states a release issued at the end of the Assembly of Orthodox Bishops in France, held under the presidency of Metropolitan Emmanuel, of the patriarchate of Constantinople. The statement underlined that in France the Pacs already envisags civil unions between same-sex individuals, thus "the traditional and fundamental understanding of marriage, and its terminology, ought to be ‘preserved’, so as to signal a net and clear distinction between civil unions and the vocation of heterosexual couples". Also the Orthodox bishops of France yearn to publish a statement on the foundations of the Christian Orthodox understanding of marriage.
