Appeal of hope

“As Christians, we dare to hope. Even in an age when millions of people all over the planet are in despair under pressure from the global economic crisis and are overwhelmed by uncertainty. Even when a variety of fears, old and new, grip our minds and hearts. We Christians dare to hope”. With these words the archbishop of Tirana Anastasios, primate of the Orthodox Church of Albania, opened the 13th General Assembly of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) in the historical Saint Bonaventure Church of Lyon, France. The Assembly, titled “Called to One Hope in Christ” (ongoing until July 21) brings together 750 delegates of CEC member Churches, namely, from over 120 Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches. While Moscow’s Patriarchate, which suspended CEC membership past October, announced it will not attend the meeting. Members of the Council of the European Bishops’ Conferences were invited in representation of the Catholic Church, (although not CEC institutional member), notably Cardinal Paul Ricard, CCEE vice-President and archbishop of Bordeaux and CCEE Secretary General father Duarte da Cunha.The Assembly. After the inaugural ceremony in the Church of Saint Bonaventure, participants will convene in the Congress Centre of Lyon where the Assembly will be held. The agenda includes roundtables, plenary meetings and workshops that will address issues like CEC developments, “the future of the ecumenical movement in Europe”, the “priorities for the next years”. Sunday 19 participants will celebrate the 50th anniversary of CEC. Assembly speakers include Patriarch Daniel, primate of Romania’s Orthodox Church, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople and bishop Wolfgang Huber, President of the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Germany. “In the new phase of world history, as well as in the context of globalization, we Christians are called to personally live the “hope within us” and, at the same time, to offer this hope with courage wherever we abide” said Archbishop Anastasios in his opening speech. “Our message is: There is hope! – in our struggle for truth and justice. There is hope when we resist all forms of violence and racism, when we defend the dignity of every human person. There is hope when we insist on the obligation for unselfish solidarity between people and peoples; when we fight for unfeigned respect for the creation”, the archbishop said. “However, we Christians cannot make this announcement of hope persuasive, if we remain divided”. Hence, the archbishop called the Churches to seek unity for a “common hope” to be proclaimed “to Europe and to the whole world”.The wish of Cardinal Barbarin. “As a brother, my wish for you is that these days of work and prayer here in Lyon may help you to move forwards in understanding the mystery of our unity in Christ, for our society presents many challenges, economic, cultural, political and inter-religious”, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, archbishop of Lyon, told participants. “Called to One Hope in Christ’. This is indeed our common call: to bear witness to our world, which is often near to losing hope, that the light of Christ shines for everyone”, His Eminence said. “Your assembly intends, concretely, to reflect on what it means for Christians to serve Europe today, and to promote a committed ecumenism”. “You are already involved in dialogue between different traditions”. “May the Holy Spirit be with you in your work, your conversations and your prayers”.Europe’s ecumenical expectation. CEC President, French pastor Jean-Arnold de Clermont, drew a balance of the past 6 years of activity of the Conference of European Churches. Rev. de Clermont referred to the Ecumenical Assembly in Sibiu, which, he said, “despite imperfections has called us to step up our commitment in bearing a common witness”. “I believe that today, on the wake of Sibiu, we ought to respond to the ecumenical expectations expressed on that occasion. This entails establishing closer relations with the Catholic Church of Rome. I am not so naïve as to believe that ecclesiological and theological disagreements between our Churches could simply wane. However, we are still half way through the journey of our common theological and spiritual path”.