From January 24th to 27th, 150 delegates of Churches, Episcopal conferences, organizations, communities and ecumenical movements of Europe will meet in Rome to start the process of the Third European Ecumenical Meeting (EEM3), set up by the Council of the European Episcopal Conferences (CEEC) and by the European Church Conference (ECC), on the subject “The light of Christ enlightens everybody. Hopes for renewal and unity in Europe”. A European team of experts drew up a document illustrating the record, the subjects and the objectives of the meeting which would take place in Sibiu (Romania), from September 4th to 9th, 2007. It is possible to read that document at the site: www.eea3.org. In the introduction, Monsignor Aldo Giordano and Colin Williams, secretaries general of CEEC and ECC, respectively, present the objectives of the Meeting. First of all, the Meeting “will not deal with the doctrinal questions among Churches directly”, because “this is not our task. On the other hand, it will be an opportunity for us all to celebrate, ponder and witness, as Christians, our faith in Jesus Christ”. “The second objective is to rediscover the meaning of the Gospel as a gift of light in Europe, today”. In this sense, the Meeting intends to help “the Christians of the Continent in recovering trust for the opportunity to follow the Gospel, within a culture characterized by secularism”. The Christians of Europe also intend to listen to and answer “the deep questions that our society asks in relation to spiritual things, the search for the meaning of life, and the expectations of today’s men and women”. Moreover, other subjects to be tackled together relate to freedom of religion, migrations, peace, solidarity, the need “to deepen meetings and dialogue among the religions that are present in the Continent”, as well as “to encourage and enlighten the process of European unification”. (to be continued)
