A deeper level

“It’s not our task to decide on or prepare the meeting of the Pope with Alexei II; while the substance of the theological dialogue is conducted and guided by the competent dicastery of the Holy See, our task is that of improving relations and practical collaboration with the Orthodox world”, said Cardinal PETER ERDÖ , Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and President of the CCEE (Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe), at a press conference held at Vatican Radio on 26 April, following the audience of the CCEE Presidency with Benedict XVI. The CCEE Presidency, elected in St. Petersburg in October 2006, was visiting Rome in recent days for a series of consultations with the heads of some offices of the Holy See. DIALOGUE ON VALUES. “Orthodoxy – continued Cardinal Erdö – ever more frequently underlines the need for direct talks with the Catholic world, especially on questions that touch on the fundamental values in Europe; we must facilitate this dialogue, perhaps with periodic meetings”. “It would however be a great joy – he observed – if one day Benedict XVI were to open or preside over our plenary session, as he is about to do during his imminent journey to Brazil on the occasion of the meeting of CELAM” (i.e. the 5th general Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean). “The activity of the CCEE – continued Cardinal Erdö – embraces the whole cultural area of Europe, so it also comprises the Bishops’ Conferences of Turkey and Russia, and consists in facilitating and supporting the ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox and the dialogue on fundamental values”. Among the issues discussed during the recent CCEE meetings with the Presidents of some offices of the Holy See, Cardinal Erdö cited some “pastoral questions relating to specific sectors, such as prisons, assistance to migrants, and the pastoral care of travelling people, who – he stressed – do not just represent a social problem, but also bring a cultural and human richness that needs to be promoted and enhanced”. The CCEE, explained its President, “is conducting a survey on Catholic schools in the continent” and “intends to reinforce its collaboration with all the universities of Europe, in particular the Catholic universities. The ideal partner for this project is the FECU (Federation of European Catholic Universities)”. Presenting the forthcoming European meeting of university teachers (Rome, 21-24 June 2007) on “A new humanism for Europe”, Cardinal Erdö observed: “Fundamental values need to be defended and promoted at the political level, but there’s a deeper level, that of dialogue with men of science and of culture”. A SPECIAL MISSION. “Europe has a special mission to the world, and therefore the Church in Europe feels herself called to think also of her mission in a wider perspective”, said Cardinal JOSIP BOZANIC , Archbishop of Zagreb and Vice-President of the CCEE, after the meeting of the CCEE Presidency with Benedict XVI. Cardinal Bozanic called the audience with the Pope “open and constructive”. He also pointed out the need to widen Europe’s mission to Africa: “Africa has often been forgotten in the world; it’s a young continent that presents many challenges”. That is why collaboration between the CCEE and SECAM (Symposium of the Bishops’ Conferences of Africa and Madagascar) is – he explained – being stepped up for the five year period 2007-2010, during which four joint meetings are planned: “in November 2007 at Cape Coast (Ghana) on the question of old and new forms of slavery, which are sometimes not recognized as such and are also present in Europe; in 2008 at Liverpool; in 2009 in Africa (at a venue still to be defined) and in 2010 in Rome”. “It must be the responsibility of everyone, also of the media – he concluded -, to speak of all that is perpetrated against man”. ETHICAL QUESTIONS. “What steps need to be taken for reconciliation?” and “what contribution can Christians make to the great challenges of Europe?”: these, said Monsignor ALDO GIORDANO , CCEE general secretary, are the basic questions posed to the Third European Ecumenical Assembly (EEA3) due to be held in Sibiu (Romania) from 4 to 9 September this year. Regarding the repercussions that the divergences of the Churches on major ethical issues, now at the centre of political debate in Europe, could have on ecumenical dialogue, Monsignor Giordano, in a briefing to SirEurope, said that “a healthy diversity in nuances may be useful for the debate; but if the differences are substantial, they represent a real problem, also because the European institutions ask the Churches for their opinion on ethical questions: what credibility can we have if we present ourselves on antithetical positions? This is a difficulty, we have to recognize that; it means we Christians are still not capable of a profound dialogue on these questions, a dialogue that is able to reach, not uniformity” but at least “a common position”.