Christians for Europe

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Charta Oecumenica signed at Strasbourg on 22 April 2001 by the then Presidents of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC), respectively Cardinal Miloslav Vlk and Metropolitan Geremia Caligiorgis. The signing of the charter came at the end of a European ecumenical meeting and a long process of dialogue involving all the churches in Europe. We asked for a reflection on the charter’s tenth anniversary from Monsignor Aldo Giordano, now Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the Council of Europe, but in 2001 general secretary of the CCEE and one of the major protagonists of the process of drafting the Charta Oecumenica.On 12 April the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe approved a Recommendation on “The religious dimension of intercultural dialogue”. Five leading representatives of religions intervened in the debate, including the President of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, and the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Romania, Daniel. The issue turned out to be an extremely topical one: over 50 members of the assembly asked to intervene in the debate. The Charta Oecumenica is widely cited in the memorandum explaining the motivations of the Recommendation (cf. no. 93 ff). The charter is seen as an exemplary document to re-affirm the common commitment of the Christians of our continent to saving and promoting the values that lie at the basis of European integration and to express the cooperation between religions and res pubblica for the common good. These contents of the Charta Oecumenica are underlined as promising in the Recommendation approved by the parliamentary assembly.1. There’s a common point of departure: the recognition of the equal dignity of the human person. In the prologue of the Charta, the Christians Churches take the following position: “With the Gospel, we want to stand up for the dignity of the human person created in God’s image…”. So the root of human rights is to be sought in the dignity of the human person that is innate in each and every human being.2. In the Charta it is clear that interfaith dialogue and dialogue between the religions and other convictions are means of reconciliation and of the promotion of fundamental values. Again in the prologue to the charter the signatories declare: “Europe – from the Atlantic to the Urals, from the North Cape to the Mediterranean – is today more pluralist in culture than ever before. With the Gospel, we want (…), as Churches together, [to] contribute towards reconciling peoples and cultures”. Later in the text, in chapter III, section 8 (Reconciling peoples and cultures) we read: “In view of numerous conflicts, the Churches are called upon to serve together the cause of reconciliation among peoples and cultures. We know that peace among the Churches is an important perquisite of life”.3. This wish for reconciliation and dialogue is expressed in a series of pledges, including: in chapter II, section 4 (“Acting together”), the commitment “to help reduce misunderstandings and prejudices between majority and minority Churches in our continent”; in chapter III, section 7 (“Participating in the building of Europe”), the commitment to “a humane socially conscious Europe, in which human rights and the basic values of peace, justice, freedom, tolerance, participation and solidarity prevail”; in the same section 7, the commitment to: “defend basic values against infringements of every kind”; and “resist any attempt to misuse religion and the church for ethnic or nationalist purposes”.4. Lastly in the Council of Europe’s Recommendation we may note that three sections (from 10 to 12) are dedicated respectively to the following issues: “Strengthening community with Judaism”; “Cultivating relations with Islam”; and “Encountering other religions and world views”.I have seen as symbolic this consideration of the Charta Oecumenica by the European political world just here in Strasbourg where we signed this document exactly ten years ago. With Patriarch Daniel, who had authoritatively followed the whole process of drafting the text, we have had the opportunity to revisit anew this event of April 2001. It’s true that I too could write a “novel” about the drafting of this document! We chose Strasbourg for the signing ceremony, due to the presence of the Council of Europe and the fact that Strasbourg is a European frontier city not only at the political but also at the ecumenical and inter-religious level. In a chamber of the Council 100 youth and 100 leaders of the Churches and Christian communities of Europe had exchanged ideas and experiences and made a serious commitment together to bear witness to the Gospel, to go forward in the search for unity and to contribute to the common good. Another significant symbolic aspect: in 2001 the date of Easter coincided for all Christians and the same goes for 2011.