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At the invitation of Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, archbishop of Westminster, the meeting of the presidents of the 34 Episcopal Conferences that belong to the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) was held in Leeds, England, from 30 September to 3 October. Published below is a note written by Msg. Amédée Grab – bishop of Coira, Switzerland, and president of the CCEE – summing up part of the discussions to which the leaders of European Churches have been dedicating their attention over the last few days (article on next page). Most of us live in Europe. In one way or another democracy and, in theory, the development of civil society should guarantee the same rights for everyone. Nonetheless, there are people who would like to impede the Catholic Church’s participation in democratic and political life. We live in a culture that praises tolerance and preaches tolerance, but that does not always tolerate the Church speaking out publicly. We note that the attempt to relegate religion to the private sphere exists both in western and eastern Europe; it is a heritage both of Communism and of a certain kind of Liberalism. Negative reactions towards the Church and other religious communities are founded on an image of the Church and of religion that, for we Catholics, is very far from the truth. How can we react positively? ‘ A synthesis between faith and culture is not only a necessity for culture, but also for faith … Faith that does not become culture is a faith not completely accepted, not fully thought out, not faithfully lived’. With these words the Holy Father expresses his profound conviction that the Church must not close herself off from anyone, that she must not be afraid in the face of the dominant culture. Quite the contrary, the Church must develop a style of communication that enables true dialogue, one in which the truth is not hidden but shines out to everyone. The Catholic Church, especially in western Europe, has been forced to face profound questions, compelled almost to re-orient herself in the face of the many challenges that have arisen in the heart of our culture over the last three or four centuries. For Churches in eastern Europe, especially the Orthodox, this encounter with the secular mentality is now becoming a decisive aspect. Over the last few years there have been attempts at dialogue between faith and modern culture by representatives of the Orthodox Churches. What must we do? In the first place, it must be made clear that to speak of inculturation of the Gospel does not mean abandoning the essence of the Gospel; rather it is an indication of the desire to share with our contemporaries the extremely original aspects that the Gospel has to offer to our culture. Moreover, to speak of the evangelisation of culture does not mean Catholic imperialism or proselytism, rather it corresponds to a basic awareness among Catholics that it would be a grave act of omission not to be present in the public gatherings and institutions that are the modern equivalents of the Areopagus of Athens. It is true that we are full citizens of this world, but not exclusively so. The values of this world are not sufficient for us, though we are not unaware of them and we do not feel ourselves to be outside European culture. That culture is our missionary context and the better we understand it, the more fruitful will our commitment to communicate the Gospel be.
