ECUMENISM
CEC: new President electedMetropolitan Emmanuel of France (Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople) has been elected as the new President of the Council of European Churches (CEC), an ecumenical organization with its headquarters in Geneva that coordinates some 120 churches of Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic tradition in the European continent. The Metropolitan was elected by the Central Committee of the CEC in the Swiss city on 16 December and assumes the post that has hitherto been filled by the Protestant pastor. Together with the Orthodox Metropolitan, the Rev. Cordelia Kopsch of the Protestant Church of Germany and the Anglican Bishop Christopher Hill were elected as Vice-Presidents. Metropolitan Emmanuel was born on the island of Crete, in Greece, in 1958. He studied theology in Paris and the USA. Ordained priest in 1995, he was appointed by the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the post of director of the “Liaison Office of the Orthodox Church to the European Union”, with its seat in Brussels. In the following year he was elected as bishop and in 2003 became Metropolitan of France. He is President of the Assembly of Orthodox Bishops in France, co-president of the Council of Christian Churches of France and co-president of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP). He has been a member of the Central Committee of the CEC since 2003. In his acceptance speech, Metropolitan Emmanuel mentioned as priorities for the CEC the work on the restructuring of the CEC and the need to coordinate the activities of the different CEC Commissions and offices. A special priority of the CEC – he added – is “to link eastern and western Europe”: it is vital, he said, to “reinforce the involvement of the Orthodox Churches and encourage their constructive presence in the life of the CEC”. Another priority underlined by the Metropolitan is to “work for the reintegration of the Russian Orthodox Church in the life of the CEC. The Russian orthodox Church – he explained – suspended its membership of the CEC in October 2008, over the failed admittance of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate into the CEC”. The new President also insisted on the importance of fostering dialogue with the European institutions using the opportunity of the Lisbon Treaty. He also highlighted the need – says a CEC press release – “to develop inter-religious dialogue, as well as a better-structured cooperation with the Roman Catholic Church in Europe”.Moscow: Patriarch’s letter to Thorbjørn JaglandThe European Court of Human Rights often does not properly consider the rights of the Church: that’s the view expressed by the Patriarch of Moscow and of all the Russias Kirill in a letter sent to the General Secretary of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland. “In our view – writes the Patriarch – the Court sometimes uses in an asymmetrical manner the various interpretations of individual rights to the detriment of the collective rights of the traditional religious organizations that are rooted in the history and culture of the European peoples”. In the Patriarch’s view, “this fact points to the need for a serious discussion on the legal issues and practices in which secular laws enter into the field of canon law and into the secular moral traditions of the European peoples”. “We believe that by ignoring the moral aspects of human rights we risk undermining the credibility of the concept itself of rights and liberties that are one of the most important acquisitions in modern history”. The Patriarch therefore expressed the hope that the Council of Europe would intensify its efforts to implement “a permanent and systematic cooperation with the religious organizations that represent the principal religious traditions of Europe”.Germany: the Churches too at Ruhr.2010The Churches too will participate in Ruhr.2010, the programme of events being held to celebrate the German region that has been chosen as one of the three European cultural capitals for 2010. The participation of the Evangelical Church and that of the Catholic Church in the event will consist in an ecumenical project, presented at Essen on 15 December: a cross specially made for the cultural city will be displayed on 8 January, on the inauguration of Ruhr.2010, after an ecumenical celebration in Essen Cathedral. “The commitment of the Churches and numerous ecumenical projects are in line with the international, intercultural and inter-religious character of Ruhr.2010”, said Fritz Pleitgen, head of Ruhr.2010 GmbH, during a press conference also chaired by representatives of the diocese of Essen and of the Evangelical Church of Rhineland-Westphalia. “The cross of the cultural city is a sign of hope”, said Michael Schlagheck, delegate of the diocese of Essen for the event. The cross will be taken each week to a different town in the region and will end up in Tallin, in Estonia, which will be cultural capital together with Turku in Finland in 2011.
