New spaces of encounter” “

“Transparent and participative” mechanisms in the procedures for foreign debt remission, better access to drugs for the treatment of Aids, restrictions on arms exports from Europe to Africa and on the exploitation of diamonds and oil, greater dialogue between the Churches of the two continents and recognition of religious freedom: just some of the recommendations contained in the final document of the meeting on “Africa and European Union. Partners in solidarity. The contribution of the Churches”, organized by COMECE (Commission of the Episcopates of the European Union), SECAM (Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar) and the Portuguese Episcopal Conference and attended by some forty African and European bishops in Lisbon on 27 and 28 February. A summary of the final document: Foundations for new collaboration. The congress was aimed at ” laying the foundations for a new collaboration based on justice and on respect for human dignity and of the dignity of the peoples and cultures of the two continents, united by historical, political and economic links”. In this sense the Churches of the two continents express in their document their support for NEPAD, the pact for Africa formulated by Africans themselves, and list a series of recommendations to the African Union and the European Union. They include the request to the two institutions to “include in the political and economic debate the debate on the cultural, spiritual and religious values that form an integral part of the identity of the peoples of the two continents”, and also to recognize “the religious and cultural freedom” of each person and community. Debt relief, weapons, medicines, resources. The African and European bishops ask, in particular, the European Union and the African Union for “transparent and participative mechanisms” in the processes of debt remission, and also to “consider the impact of the exploitation of natural resources, such as diamonds and oil, on African conflicts, and to apply more restrictive rules on the export of weapons from Europe to Africa”. “The European Union – says the document – ought to support international efforts within the WTO to improve access to medicines for all diseases, especially those for the treatment of Aids”. At the same time, the African Union and the leaders of the member countries ought to increase “the resources allocated to health in general and to anti-Aids programmes and activities” in particular. Exchanges between the Churches. The final chapter of the document is dedicated to the relations between COMECE and SECAM. It proposes that “a method be established to exchange information on situations of conflict” so as to contribute to the political actions of the European and African institutions. COMECE and SECAM “ought to renew their commitment to and their preferential option for the poor by promoting an effective and fair cancellation of debt”, by diffusing “sound information, evaluating everything in the light of the social teaching of the Church and contributing to the political processes through the structures of the European Union, the African Union and NEPAD”. “The Church in Africa and Europe – they add – ought to use its organizational and spiritual prerogatives to help to remove the cultural misunderstandings on health and the spread of the HIV/Aids virus, develop a spirit of compassion and not of stigmatization, emphasize the dignity of life and discourage abortion as a means of family planning”. The Church, they recall, “as point of encounter between cultures, ought to promote spaces of multicultural expression through its educational institutions”, undertake development and health-care projects also in partnership “with communities of other religions” and “embrace the cause of immigrants and refugees”.