Problems, commitments, hopes” “

The annual meeting of the joint Committee of the Conferences of European Churches (KEK) and the Council of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe (CCEE) was held at Bucharest, in Romania, from 30 January to 2 February 2003. The meeting, the first to be held in an Orthodox country for several years, discussed, among other things, the Iraqi and Middle Eastern crisis. It also assessed the ecumenical situation in Europe, the process of signing up to the Charta Oecumenica and the work of the “Islam in Europe” Committee. The meeting was the last before KEK’s 12th General Assembly (to be held in Trondheim, Norway, in June 2003), where the new members of its executive will be appointed. Iraqi and Middle Eastern crisis. One of the Committee’s major concerns was the prospect of a war against Iraq. “The political leaders – it was said at Bucharest – have the obligation to protect the global common good against any kind of threat to peace”. Urged by the Charta Oecumenica to seek peace “through the non-violent solution of tensions”, the Committee appealed to politicians “to act in accordance with international law and moral law and to resolve the current crisis through all the non-violent means at their disposal, and so ensure justice and peace”. The Christian Churches of Europe, moreover, “are regarding with apprehension and constant attention the tragedy of the Middle East which seems to find no solution. They express their solidarity with the victims of violence and their support to the Christian communities”. Ecumenical and interreligious dialogue. “The Churches of Europe – says the Committee’s communiqué – are always seeking new strength and hope to take the dialogue forward. The Charta Oecumenica is a fundamental contribution and is already an integral component of the ecumenical architecture in Europe”. The Committee is therefore asking “all the Churches to regularly include prayers for the other Churches and Christian communities in their own confessional celebrations”. No less important is the reinforcement of Christian-Islamic dialogue. In this context, the joint Committee recommended that “discussions on Islam be further pursued, also through the work of the CCEE-KEK Committee for relations with the Muslims in Europe, in such a way that Christians and Muslims may dialogue on their faith in God and their shared life in society in Europe”. The Committee proposed that a third European Ecumenical Assembly be held in 2007, in an Eastern European country of Orthodox tradition, thus taking forward the process and the spirit of the assemblies in Basel (1989) and Graz (1997). European Union. No meeting of Christians in Europe today can fail to take into consideration the processes underway in the continent at this time. Conscious of this, the Church and Society Commission of KEK and COMECE (Commission of the Episcopates of the European Community) submitted to the European Convention on the future of Europe a legislative proposal in which the Episcopal Conferences are asked to invite national governments to ensure that the new Europe “respects the status of the Churches, religious communities and non-confessional organizations in conformity with the national legislations in force in the member states; recognizes the specific identity of the Churches and religious communities; initiates forms of dialogue with them, and respects religious liberty in its individual, collective and associative dimensions. The Christian heritage in Europe is not merely a legacy of history, but a force for the future cohesion and values of the continent”.