” “No peace without justice

A possible armed conflict with Iraq is a “terrible prospect”, while “the interminable tragedy that is taking place in the Holy Land” requires the urgent intervention of the political authorities: so declares the final communiqué of the plenary assembly of the CCEE (Council of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe), held in Sarajevo in recent days (cf. Sir Europe no. 35/2002). “War is, was and will always be a horrible thing”, say the bishops of Europe, expressing their “great anxiety” about the international situation. The next assembly of the CCEE will be held in Vilnius, in Lithuania, from 2 to 5 October 2003. At Sarajevo plans were also presented for a Conference of the Catholics of Central Europe. With the title “Christ hope of Europe”, the conference is the brainchild of Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, archbishop of Vienna. Planned to be held in 2003-2004, it will involve eight Episcopal Conferences (Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Hungary), called to reflect “on questions of evangelization and common responsibility of the Churches and society”. War, Middle East and “future” of Europe. “The leaders in Europe and in the world – says the document – have a serious obligation to protect the global common good against any kind of threat to peace, through all the non-violent means at their disposal”. “There is no real peace without justice”, point out the European Churches, citing the thought of John Paul II and referring to possible violations of “basic human rights” in some “hotspots” of the planet, such as Bosnia and south-eastern Europe or Russia, where the Catholic Church is being sorely “tried by the unmotivated expulsion of a bishop and various priests” and asks for “solidarity and closer collaboration to defend the right to religious liberty and to re-establish trustful ecumenical relations with the Orthodox Church”. The other questions addressed by the CCEE assembly included that of the “process of European unification, especially with regard to the debate on the future developments of the European Union linked to the work of the Convention”. In particular, the presidents of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe expressed the hope that “the dimension of the values of faith and transcendence not be forgotten in the constitutional Treaty of Europe. Through the centuries Christianity has substantially formed the cultural and spiritual heritage of this continent and has a fundamental richness of humanity and communion. The omission of any explicit reference to this could lead to a loss of identity and greater fragility for the future of Europe”. Vocations and dialogue. A central theme of the assembly in Sarajevo was “evangelization and the transmission of faith in the context of the modern and pluralist society of Europe”. For the European bishops “a great challenge is represented by the need to show the importance of the Christian faith and to translate it into all the fields of society”. Each Christian “is called to be a protagonist of evangelization”: in this perspective, “an irreplaceable role” is played by vocations to the consecrated life and to the priesthood. The European bishops recall the need to “place the vocational apostolate at the centre of the life of the dioceses and parishes through appropriate forms of witness and structures”. In the field of ecumenical dialogue, the European Churches “once again emphasized the importance” of the “Carta oecumenica” and announced the holding of the third European Ecumenical Assembly in 2006. “Reflecting deeply as Christians on the consequences of 11 September 2001”: that is the main commitment assumed in Sarajevo in the sphere of interreligious dialogue; it also involves the “need to grow in reciprocal respect in Islamic-Christians relations” and a greater attention to the “presence of Buddhism in Europe”. The other questions debated by the European bishops at Sarajevo included ethical and bioethical issues, paedophilia, euthanasia and the safeguard of the creation. The pastoral proposals include the introduction of a “Day of Creation”, to be celebrated in Europe between 1st September and 4 October, feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Maria Michela Nicolais