CCEE: rooted in Jesus to speak to the world

Peace, dialogue, mutual respect despite “diversity” (national as well as cultural). The Family (and the Synod), freedom of religion, of education, and also migration, economic and labour crisis, secularization (ongoing in European Countries, that “tends to confine religion to the private sphere and on the borders of society”.); the Middle East and the Holy Land: all these words echoed several times in the course of the plenary meeting of the Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE), which in its 2015 gathering assumed the connotation of a veritable “pilgrimage” on the footsteps of Jesus, that opened in Korazim on September 11 and closed in Jerusalem on September 16. At the end of the works the bishops released a “Message”, whose content appears to be addressed to the Churches in Europe and to those in the Holy Land, along with the communities of faithful and the civil and political realms of Israel and Palestine. “Through their pilgrimage” – state the first paragraph – “the European bishops also wished to encourage pilgrimages in the land of Jesus in order to renew the faith and support the Christians of these places”. “Coming here, the European prelates also wanted to renew their rootedness in Christ at a time when Europe is asking of the Church, even if not always consciously, that she proclaims without fear and with joy the newness of life in Christ which is the Gospel”. The document makes due reference to the teaching and writings of Pope Francis, echoing the repeated references by the bishops during the plenary sessions. A long chapter focuses on migration: “Looking at the joys, sufferings and challenges of the Church in the different countries, there emerged a picture of the great movement of peoples: asylum-seekers, refugees, migrants. The anguish knows no bounds. The complexity of this exodus, with its inevitable differentiations, demands great attention from the individual States, whose situations are radically different, with the aim of responding promptly to the needs of immediate assistance and welcome of people desperate due to war, persecution, and misery”. This theme was broached with varying emphasis and subtleties, which perhaps reflect a debate marked by a variety of positions. “Through the necessary institutions, the States must maintain public order, guarantee justice for all and offer generous willingness to those truly in need, with a view to respectful and collaborative integration”. The document recalls “the commitment of the Churches” in terms of migrant reception. But “given the complexity of the situations and the breadth of the humanitarian tragedies, we hope that the UN will take the situation into decisive consideration and reach effective solutions not just with respect to the first welcome but also to the migrants’ countries of origin, taking appropriate measures to stop the violence and build the peace and development of all peoples”. The Middle East, North Africa, Ukraine, are expressly mentioned in the invocation of peace. The Middle East in particular, “suffering conflicts, divisions and wars” needs “justice and stability in the different regions and peoples”. “Guaranteeing the equality of citizens, the Middle East countries and societies, rich in their own cultural and religious patrimony, could be an example of co-existence for the international community”. Moreover, in the Holy Land “the Christian community contributes in a very special manner to building the peace, understanding and culture of forgiveness, without which social cohesion does not exist”. Among the themes highlighted in the Message figure the respect for freedom of religion and education. Indeed, the focus is also on the family, notably ahead of the upcoming Synod. “The Church strongly believes in the family founded on marriage between a man and a woman: it is the basic cell of society and of the Christian community itself”. The bishops then critically observed: “It is difficult to see why different situations of coexistence should be treated in the same way”. “Of particular concern” is the attempt to apply “gender theory”: “it is a plan of the ‘one thought’ which tends to colonise Europe and about which Pope Francis has often spoken”. “The Church does not accept ‘gender theory’ because it is an expression of an anthropology contrary to the true and authentic appreciation of the human person”, the bishops remarked. Finally: “In view of the Year of Mercy, the pastors renewed their commitment for the true happiness and destiny of humanity. For this, like the first apostles, they are addressing the people of Europe and the countries with the word of the Gospel, conscious that only in Jesus Christ can answers be found to the profound questions of the heart and European humanism be fully accomplished”.