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CEC ASSEMBLY: BISHOP HUBER (GERMANY), A “FRESH” ECUMENICAL “BALANCE”
- Dettagli
- Creato: 17 Luglio 2009
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The Christian Churches of Europe are called to find a “fresh balance” between the “common message” entrusted to them and the many possibilities of expressing their traditions. Unity in diversity – this is the challenge Christians have to meet if they want to offer an effective contribution to the building of Europe. It was said this morning by bishop Wolfgang Huber, President of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany, in his bible study marking the beginning of the third day of the General Assembly of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) which is to be held in Lyon until July 21. “As Christians – the bishop said – it is our conviction that our understanding of humankind as made in the image of God, our confidence in the power of forgiveness and reconciliation, and our hope for a life of justice and of peace can be a powerful force for the future of Europe. To that end, we need to combine in a fresh way the diversity of our traditions and the common elements of our faith”. According to the bishop, the Churches are called to a “dynamic” ecumenism: not an ecumenism imposed from above, in which the conclusion is drawn that the Church should be “uniform”, but an ecumenism “from below that makes room for diversity”.
“To shape this unity is the great political task ahead of us in Europe”, continued bishop Huber. “The ecumenical community which we wish to shape is not a rigid template but a vital process. It is a road, along which we shall come again and again to significant junctions and dividing of the ways, where we shall need to decide what direction we should take”. The bishop acknowledged that this “task is not always greeted with enthusiasm. Many have settled down into their particular niche, consider their own room possibly as the real world, and thus have lost sight of the whole house”. A faith lived like this, he continued, is destined to be cultivated and preserved only “in a small circle of the likeminded”. In conclusion, the ecumenical challenge in Europe is based on the capacity of the Churches not to “lose their distinctive hues” when we together “make visible the one foundation on which we stand: one Lord, one faith, one baptism”.
KEK ASSEMBLY: ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW I EXPECTED IN LYONS TOMORROW
Great expectations in Lyons tomorrow for the arrival of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I. His Holiness will attend the XIII General Assembly of the Conference of European Churches (Kek), which in these days is bringing to the French city (until July 21st) 750 delegates from over 120 European Christian Churches that are members of Kek (Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic ones). The Patriarch will be welcomed at Lyons Airport by the civilian authorities of the city along with the Catholic archbishop of Lyons, card. Philippe Barbarin, and the president of Kek, Jean-Arnold de Clermont. Tomorrow afternoon, states a release from the archdiocese of Lyons, the Patriarch and Card. Barbarin will celebrate the Vespers together in the Basilica of Saint Jean where Bartholomew I will give a homily. On Sunday, the Patriarch will go to the Kek Assembly, in the Congress Centre, for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Conference and will give a speech there.
© SIR 17 luglio 2009
“To shape this unity is the great political task ahead of us in Europe”, continued bishop Huber. “The ecumenical community which we wish to shape is not a rigid template but a vital process. It is a road, along which we shall come again and again to significant junctions and dividing of the ways, where we shall need to decide what direction we should take”. The bishop acknowledged that this “task is not always greeted with enthusiasm. Many have settled down into their particular niche, consider their own room possibly as the real world, and thus have lost sight of the whole house”. A faith lived like this, he continued, is destined to be cultivated and preserved only “in a small circle of the likeminded”. In conclusion, the ecumenical challenge in Europe is based on the capacity of the Churches not to “lose their distinctive hues” when we together “make visible the one foundation on which we stand: one Lord, one faith, one baptism”.
KEK ASSEMBLY: ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW I EXPECTED IN LYONS TOMORROW
Great expectations in Lyons tomorrow for the arrival of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I. His Holiness will attend the XIII General Assembly of the Conference of European Churches (Kek), which in these days is bringing to the French city (until July 21st) 750 delegates from over 120 European Christian Churches that are members of Kek (Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic ones). The Patriarch will be welcomed at Lyons Airport by the civilian authorities of the city along with the Catholic archbishop of Lyons, card. Philippe Barbarin, and the president of Kek, Jean-Arnold de Clermont. Tomorrow afternoon, states a release from the archdiocese of Lyons, the Patriarch and Card. Barbarin will celebrate the Vespers together in the Basilica of Saint Jean where Bartholomew I will give a homily. On Sunday, the Patriarch will go to the Kek Assembly, in the Congress Centre, for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Conference and will give a speech there.
© SIR 17 luglio 2009