Sibiu: anything new?

It’s the countdown for the Third European Ecumenical Assembly (Aee3), the event established by the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (Ccee) and by the Conference of the European Churches (Kek) to continue a journey and a European tradition which is nearly twenty years old. From 4 to 9 September Sibiu, in Romania, will host the assembly that end two years of meetings and a journey in which the Christian Europe has reflected on the subject: “The light of Christ enlightens everyone. Hope of renewal and unity in Europe”. A STEPPED ASSEMBLY . The first step of this pilgrimage was Rome, the symbol of Christianity, from 24th to 27th January 2006. The subject “The light of Christ enlightens everyone” had been highlighted by the reflection on “Finding again, in Christ Crucified and Resurrected, a new light for the journey of reconciliation among the Christians of Europe” and by the meeting with the Catholic tradition, especially through the audience with Pope Benedict XVI. The second step of the process has been scattered all over Europe. 130 is the number of meetings of which the secretariats of Ccee and Kek have been informed and which have taken place in different countries or regions between Pentecost 2006 and the Week of Prayer for the Unity of Christians of 2007. The third step was celebrated in Wittemberg, from 15th to 18th February 2007: emphasis was placed on the subject “Rediscovering the gift of light that Christ’s Gospel is for today’s Europe”, while the 150 delegates have had an insight of the tradition of the Reform. DESTINATION Sibiu . The time to experience an ecumenical assembly, after Basel and Graz, in a country with an Orthodox majority, had been awaited for years. Now, the time was right – in the political Europe as well as in the Europe of the Churches – so that the fourth and most symbolic step of the assembly process of the Aee3 could take place in Sibiu, in the very heart of Romania. About 2,500 delegates of the European Churches will thus be invited to learn more about the richness of Orthodox spirituality and to take stock of the distance that has been covered since January 2006 – and more generally – since the Charta Oecumenica was signed in 2001. This document actually acts as a landmark and gives a picture of the subjects that will be investigated by the 9 forums (unity, spirituality, testimony, Europe, religions, migration, creation, justice and peace). Hope of renewal and unity in Europe. “I am sure over these days we have to take extremely seriously the subject we have chosen for our assembly”, explained mgr. Aldo Giordano, secretary general of Ccee. “Our contribution to the success of the Sibiu meeting depends on our ability to read the different problems we face in the light that comes from the Gospel. If over these days we meet Christ and live the love that He took onto earth, as we go back home next Sunday we will have something to tell: we might tell that something new happened here in Sibiu”. FOUR YEARS’ PREPARATION. The event has been preceded by four years’ deep reflection – in the attempt to set up a new assembly, not just a replica of the two previous ones – to prepare such a city as Sibiu, which had some logistic deficiencies -, and exchanges between the players involved. This led to the development of a seemingly scanty, but certainly exacting, schedule: the official opening will double up, with an event on the evening of 4th September and the prayer in the morning of the 5th. Every morning, after the prayer, there will be a plenary session to provide a framework for the day’s reflection (the light of Christ and the Church, the light of Christ and Europe, the light of Christ and the world), with speeches by important speakers and testimonies. The reflection will be carried on by the aforesaid 9 forums. The sessions will be closed by prayers. The night will be a time for partying and socialisation. The birth of the Virgin, which is deeply loved by the Orthodox world, will be celebrated on Saturday 8th September. Then the plenary meeting will address the results of the forums, and then the final message will be proclaimed. The evening, the night and the following morning, Sunday 9th September, will be spent in prayer: the celebration of the light, the liturgies according to the different confessions and the final ecumenical celebration will take to Sibiu all those people who have personally arranged a meeting with the Rumanian communities and have joined the 3aee in prayer and reflection. Despite the problems and unforeseen events, the atmosphere is one of great peace and confident expectation, as confirmed by mgr. Giordano: “Knowing that in every European country our journey is accompanied by a chain of prayer deeply encourages us. We are sure other travelling companions are now accompanying us from Heaven, the Patriarch Teoctist to begin with”.