A hope for dialogue” “

“A text, a process, a dream”, that’s how the Charta Oecumenica was defined at the end of the consultation that the Council of the European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) and the Conference of the Churches of Europe (KEK) promoted from 7 to 10 September at Ottmaring to review the process of the Charter’s reception in Europe and to draw up a programme for future work. The Charter contains a series of guidelines for the growth of collaboration between the Churches of Europe and was signed by the presidents of CCEE and KEK in April 2001, after a long process of consultation. A year later, the text was translated into 24 different languages. The consultation in Ottmaring – ecumenical citadel situated in southern Germany – was attended by some fifty representatives of the Episcopal Conferences and Christian Churches present in Europe, coming from some twenty different countries. A new impetus for those who believe in dialogue. “It was really necessary to review the reception of the Charta Oecumenica in Europe and how its continuation should be envisaged”. So said Msgr. Amédée Grab, president of the CCEE, at the end of the consultation. “The Charter is an important document – he added – because it has a continental destination and entails an ecclesial commitment, even it is not a juridical or formal one: this is the first time such a document has been received and accepted by all the Churches, not just by the Catholic and the Reformed, but also by the Orthodox Churches. So it’s not only a question of strengthening communion between Protestants and Catholics, but also between Eastern and Western Europe”. The Metropolitan of France Jérémie, president of KEK, emphasizes that “the Charter concerns all the Christians of Europe, Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox, and touches all the fields of life in this European continent”. According to the metropolitan, moreover, “the Charta Oecumenica has opened up new horizons in relations between our Churches, not only at the level of church leaders, but also at the popular level, at the level of daily endeavour”. An opportunity for solving problems. Satisfaction about the results of the consultation was also expressed by Keith Clements, general secretary of KEK, according to whom “this meeting has proved very useful because it enabled us to gain a better idea of how the Charter has been received and discussed, and how it has progressed. In some areas there has been considerable progress in the field of the Churches and the ecumenical councils, and ecumenical dialogue has been renewed by intensive discussions. Elsewhere there have been difficulties and we have taken note of them. All this is very important. This consultation gives us an occasion to examine both situations, where the Charter has been well received, and where it has been less well received: we’ll then see what we can learn from this”. Reflecting on the obstacles still present with some Churches that have expressed misgivings about the text, Clements said that “a serious commitment to the Charta Oecumenica may in itself be an opportunity to solve the problems”. A tool to tackle the challenges of history. The Charter is an “ecumenical agenda”, said the general secretary of the CCEE, Msgr. Aldo Giordano. “It’s the first historic attempt of this kind”. “It’s clear – added Giordano – that the Christian’s one real agenda remains the Gospel, but the Charter is a tool to tackle the challenges that history is posing to the Church”. So a commitment to ecumenism, sums up the CCEE general secretary, is “an urgent need at the present time which concerns us individually because what is at stake is our witness, our very identity as Christians”. Responding to the sometimes polemical references to the relations between the Charta Oecumenica and the European Union, Msgr. Giordano emphasized the clear distinction between the text signed by the Churches and the Charter of fundamental rights of the EU, even though – he added – “the Christian Churches have something to say about various issues being debated by the Convention”. “The Charta Oecumenica, though it is an inter-church matter and though it maintains its independence and distance from the EU – declared Giordano – is nonetheless a contribution to the debate on the future and identity of Europe”.