European Christian leaders discuss Muslim relations

The annual meeting of the Joint Committee of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE) was held in London, United Kingdom, from 21-24 February 2008 at the Royal Foundation of St Katharine.

It was the first meeting of the CCEE-CEC Joint Committee after the 3rd European Ecumenical Assembly (EEA3) held in Sibiu, Romania, from 4-9 September 2007. The evaluation of the EEA3 was at the centre of the agenda of the London meeting.

The President of CEC, Rev. Jean-Arnold de Clermont, underlined in his opening remarks three challenges for the ecumenical movement: first of all globalisation, which urges us to "enlarge the ecumenical awareness of the members of our churches". The second challenge is the secularization of our continent, and the third is the need to rethink the structures of ecumenical cooperation between the Churches in Europe in view of a renewed common witness, offering "a strong signal that the Churches are willing to change".

The Vice-President of CCEE, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, indicated four priorities: the need to be increasingly clear on the objectives of the ecumenical engagement ("what kind of unity are we looking for?"); to enlarge the experience of ecumenical fellowship, for instance towards "our public opinions, which may be tempted by relativism, syncretism and by confessional tensions" as well as towards the youth; to be more present where "the humanity of the human being" is at stake; and to develop a spiritual ecumenism, “particularly at a time where we risk being discouraged by the slowness of ecumenical progress and by apparent stepping backwards”.

The Joint Committee gave a largely positive evaluation of the Sibiu event and of the whole EEA3 process, while pointing out some critical aspects. In the present ecumenical situation, the Sibiu Assembly has shown that European Christians are engaged in common witness at various levels, and that they can contribute in an original way to the building of the common European home. On the other hand, the EEA3 has demonstrated that it is possible to speak about differences and still existing divisions in all frankness and fraternity. It is of vital importance to keep alive the network of Sibiu delegates, who are the "living message" of the EEA3. Therefore the Joint Committee has affirmed the need to publish and disseminate the Assembly report, to start a regular interactive correspondence with the delegates, and to promote the sharing of the spiritual richness of the different confessional traditions.

With regard to the future cooperation between CEC and CCEE, the Committee decided to deepen ecumenical collaboration at the local and European levels on "consensus" themes, in the light of the Charta Oecumenica and the Sibiu recommendations. Among these themes will be promoting the knowledge of the Bible in Europe, interreligious dialogue (especially with Muslims), the integrity of Creation, migration and peace. The need to reflect on the reconfiguration of the ecumenical movement in Europe emerged as a concern.

Participants have examined and approved the working programme of the CCEE-CEC Committee for relations with Muslims in Europe. This includes a European Christian/Muslim conference, which will be held in Malines/Brussels (Belgium) from 20-23 October 2008 on the theme "Being a citizen of Europe and a person of faith. Christians and Muslims as active partners in European societies".

The dialogue with Islam and other faiths was at the heart of the visit to St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace. The Centre is located in an ancient Anglican church, which was destroyed by an IRA bomb in 1993 and later rebuilt as a space for experimental encounter between faiths. Close to the old building is a Bedouin tent, a place where people from different faiths come together to "explore differences, transform conflicts, and to build firm foundations for collaboration".

The Joint Committee received information on the activities of the Church and Society Commission of CEC and the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) with regard to recent issues the European institutions are dealing with.

Receptions for the Joint Committee members were given by Sion College, an ancient institution of the Anglican clergy, by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Roman Catholic archbishop of Westminster, and by the Anglican Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, who hosted the meeting. Of particular significance was the participation in the Vespers at the Roman-Catholic cathedral, and the choral Evensong at the Anglican cathedral of Saint Paul.

The next annual meeting of the Joint Committee will be in Esztergom/Budapest (Hungary) from 19-22 February 2009.

London, 25 February 2008

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For more information:

Luca Negro

CEC Secretary for Communications

phone +41 22 791 6485, mobile +41 78 870 81 17

e-mail Luca.Negro@cec-kek.org

Thierry Bonaventura

CCEE Media Officer

phone +41 71 227 6040, mobile +39 347 0360923

e-mail thierry.bonaventura@ccee.ch

The Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) includes the presidents of the 34 bishops’ conferences in Europe. The president is Cardinal Péter Erdö, Archbishop of

Esztergom-Budapest, Primate of Hungary; the vice-presidents are Cardinal Josip Bozanic, Archbishop of Zagreb and Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux. CCEE’s Secretary General is Mgr. Aldo Giordano. The secretariat is in St. Gallen (Switzerland)

The Conference of European Churches (CEC) is a fellowship of some 125 Orthodox,

Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches from all countries of Europe, plus 40

associated organisations. CEC was founded in 1959. It has offices in Geneva, Brussels and Strasbourg

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