European bishops" "
“No other ecumenical document has reached such a wide base and given rise to such great debate”. This is the opinion of Msgr. Aldo Giordano, secretary general of the CCEE (Council of European Episcopal Conferences), on the “Charta Oecumenica europea”, signed in April 2001 by the presidents of the CCEE and KEK (Conference of European Churches) and translated into 24 languages. “An evaluation of the reception of the Charta Oecumenica europea” will be the focus of the consultations that the CCEE-KEK joint committee has planned to take place in Ottmaring, Germany, from 7 to 10 September. “The Charta Oecumenica”, says Keith Clemens, secretary general of the KEK, “has clearly given a fresh impulse to ecumenicalism and, in some circumstances, to reciprocal commitment between Churches”. The programme of the Ottmaring conference say the CCEE and the KEK in a joint communiqué will conclude with a “letter to Churches” and will involve different European countries and regions presenting reports on the “Charta” which contains the “guidelines for the growth of collaboration between Churches in Europe”. Moreover, participants will seek to identify prospects for future work, especially on the “Charta Oecumenica as a contribution to the ecumenical path” and the “Charta Oecumenica and European integration”.
