The roots in life

“A cordial discussion to review and reinforce cooperation between Ccee and Comece”, said Cardinal PETER ERDÖ, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and President of the Ccee (Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe), summing up the meeting held in Berlin in recent days between the executives of the Ccee and Comece (Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community). “We don’t have any great changes in mind – explained the Ccee President to SIR -; the question of cooperation between us will, however, be resumed during our next General Assembly [due to be held in Fatima from 4 to 7 October], to which we have invited both the President of Comece, Bishop Adianus Van Luyn, and its general secretary Msgr. Noël Treanor. My hope is that we will reach a formula shared by everyone for improving collaboration between us: the prospects for it are already very promising”. Cardinal Erdö was elected to head the organization that represents the 34 Bishops’ Conferences of the continent during the plenary Assembly held in St. Petersburg in October 2006. Summing up your first months as Ccee President, what are your priorities? “The great commitment of these first months has been and will continue to be preparations for the Third European Ecumenical Assembly (EEA3, Sibiu 4-9 September). The many preparatory meetings have enabled us to forge contacts with various Churches and provided an opportunity for us to get to know their life and spirituality. Another field of commitment continues to be dialogue with the Christians of Europe on social issues, especially solidarity and justice, but also natural values and the ethical questions of day-to-day life: so not only with reference to European legislation or relations with the EU institutions, but also to people’s daily life. This theme will be further explored in the months ahead in the meetings promoted by the CCEE and by the Orthodox Churches”. Do the concerns of the Ccee range beyond the frontiers of Europe? “Yes. We want to underline our special mission to the whole world. Apart from cooperation with SECAM (Symposium of the Bishops’ Conferences of Africa and Madagascar) to be re-invigorated in the four-year period 2007-2010 (four meetings are planned), we took part in recent days, with a small delegation, in the opening session of the 5th General Conference of Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean in Brazil. One of our bishops will remain there till the end of the conference (on 31 May). We also invited the Presidency of CELAM and the bishops of the Caribbean to participate in our next plenary at Fatima to further reinforce cooperation between the two continents – Europe and America – which is based on the common cultural heritage forged by Christianity”. A Europe that breathes with “both lungs”: how can the Churches contribute to the healing of conflicts and integration? “Among the new members of the EU, despite the fact that many of the expectations cherished before accession have been dashed, hope in the EU remains strong: it is seen as a guarantee of peaceful co-existence between peoples. But residual forms of nationalism still need to be overcome. The Church, for her part, is following with particular attention this process of pacification and integration. That’s why various Catholic Bishops’ Conferences are trying to promote knowledge of our common history and identity and have signed ‘declarations of reconciliation’. These include the declaration signed last year by us Hungarian bishops with the Slovak Bishops’ Conference: ‘We forgive and ask for forgiveness’. A similar gesture of reconciliation has in the past been made by the German and Polish bishops”. The Churches are suffering from constant attempts to sideline them from public life, as in the case of the exclusion of Christian references from the Constitutional Treaty. What do you think of that? “It seems to me there is some possibility of a simplified Treaty, but unfortunately I don’t hear authoritative voices being raised by EU exponents in favour of an insertion of the name of God or Christian roots in the text. Of course the Church would like this kind of recognition of a heritage that is irrefutable in European culture, but since we need to look at the question with realism, what we hope for is that the life itself of people in Europe should reflect and express this heritage. Only genuine and sincere witness can have positive repercussions in terms of affirmation of Christian values in public life”. What contribution do you hope from EEA3 to unresolved questions of ecumenism? “It’s not the task of a meeting like Sibiu to define new positions on the matter. What we hope for is a commitment to improve relations between Christians of different confessions. Today the greatest difficulties in dialogue consist of differences in view between Protestant communities and the Catholic Church on theological and dogmatic questions, with repercussions in many more practical fields such as ethical questions. With the Orthodox Church, closer to us on dogmatic questions and, consequently, also on questions relating to the human person, life and the family, we need to improve personal relations and foster mutual understanding and trust”.