” “To respond to the challenges of migration and more generally globalisation, "we are called to rediscover the catholicity of the Church and the universal dimension of the Gospel”. But we must also look ahead: “in ten or twenty years, the main challenge for Christians will not be that of relations with Islam or the Middle East, but the encounter with Asia, its culture and its numbers “. This was stated to Sir, the day after the VI Meeting in Corfu of the Presidents of the Bishops Conferences of south-eastern Europe, by mgr. Aldo Giordano, secretary general of the Council of the Bishops Conferences of Europe (Ccee), which promoted the event. In drawing the conclusions of the meeting, mgr. Giordano says he is “surprised to have touched with his own hands the widespread presence of Catholics in Greece, a country where the largest majority is Orthodox, which, along with that of Iraqis, proves that the Church as well as the whole of the Middle East, is changing face”. But he also says he is “satisfied of the first, faint signs of pastoral exchanges”. “The Gospel he states creates one single family among nations and peoples, which does not efface their faces but instead enhances their diversities. To respond to the challenges of globalisation, we must therefore rediscover and put into practice this universal dimension. A serious search into our faith – concludes mgr. Giordano will also enable us, in the next decades, to prevent the encounter and confrontation with the large populations of Asia from turning into a risk of conflict instead of opportunities”. ” “
