In just over a month

The Third European Ecumenical Assembly will be held in Sibiu (Romania) from 3 to 9 September. It will be attended by 2,100 official delegates, Catholics, Evangelicals and Orthodox: the delegates were rigorously distributed between Churches and nations by the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe and the Conference of European Churches. To the official delegates should also be added 80 young people and a further 400 ancillary staff, guest speakers and journalists. After Basel (a largely Protestant city) in 1989 and Graz (city with a Catholic majority) in 1997, now it will be the turn of Sibiu (a city that is now almost 99% Orthodox) that will host the great ecumenical meeting of the Churches and Christians of Europe. It is being promoted jointly by the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC). The city of Sibiu has this year been designated – together with Luxembourg – European Capital of Culture in 2007. (Official website of the Ecumenical Assembly: www.eea3.org).  THE SLOGAN AND THE PROGRAMME . The slogan of the assembly is “The Light of Christ Shines Upon All”. The meeting will open on Tuesday 4 September at 19.00 in one of the public squares of the city, where, amid music and songs of Romanian culture, the organizers and civil authorities will welcome the participants. During the mornings the participants will meet in plenary assembly to reflect on issues in the Charta Oecumenica: unity-spirituality-witness (Wednesday 5); Europe-religions-migrations (Thursday 6); Creation-peace-justice (Friday 7). During the afternoons the delegates will split up into work groups. The Assembly will end with the publication of a final document. PREPARATORY STAGES . The Christian Churches of Europe have prepared for Sibiu in a series of stages since 2006. The first stage was held in Rome from 24 to 27 January 2006; 150 delegates met in the heart of Christianity to rediscover the roots of Christianity and “new light on the road of reconciliation between the Christians of Europe”. The second stage was held in the second half of 2006 when the Churches promoted a series of national and regional meetings in the individual countries on themes inspired by the Charta Oecumenica though more linked to local contexts. These meetings were held all over Europe. Some examples: at Terni in Italy (5-7 June 2006) with the participation of 200 delegates of various Churches; at Voivodina (an autonomous province of the Republic of Serbia), on “Christ, light of the world, foundation and hope for Europe”; in Bulgaria (29-30 September) on “Christianity in Europe”; and at Dublin in Ireland on the initiative of the National Council of Irish Churches (IICM). The third and last stage was held in Lutherstadt Wittemberg, the German city inseparably linked with the Reformation, from 15 to 18 February. YOUTH . A forum for youth: that was one of the priorities set by the organizers of the Third Ecumenical Assembly. And young people are responding. From 14 to 15 April, over 200 youth of the various Christian confessions (together with some Jews and Muslims) participated in the Second National Ecumenical Meeting held in Milan by the “Dare to Make Peace” committee. A message for Sibiu was issued at the end of the meeting. “Ecumenism – write the young – is a difficult challenge today, and yet it is absolutely indispensable in a Europe whose history and present is burdened by the divisions between the Churches”. In their message the young underline the importance of their commitment to peacemaking, interfaith dialogue (in particular Islamic-Jewish-Christian dialogue), justice and the safeguard of the creation. CEC MEETING OF THE UNDER-30s . A similar meeting is due shortly to be held at Saint Maurice (Switzerland-Canton Vallais) where 35 young delegates of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) are due to meet from 27 to 30 July. They range in age between 18 and 30, come from all over Europe, and represent the Orthodox, Protestant and Anglican Churches. “The aim of the meeting – explains Smaranda Dochia, its coordinator – is to help the young to understand each other, so that at Sibiu they don’t feel lost but already friends and prepared to take the floor”. ORTHODOX . Another preparatory meeting was held at Rhodes from 25 to 28 June; it was attended by 35 representatives of almost all the Orthodox Churches. The aim of the meeting, explains Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima (Ecumenical Patriarchate), was to “reinforce the existing bonds of brotherhood between the Orthodox Churches and be able to act and speak in a coordinated way”. At the end of the meeting, the participants sent a report to the Assembly, in which they underline the responsibility of all Christians to pray and work for the unity of the Church and the importance to reaffirm at Sibiu the Christian roots of the European continent and commitment to the promotion of Christian values. The Orthodox Churches emphasise the importance of the education of the young and ask the Churches to “a visible sign” at Sibiu of the safeguard of the environment.