RELIGION: Churches’ New Effort at Reconciliation

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, May 21 1997 (IPS) - European churches start a new round of ecumenical talks in Graz, Austria, next month in a fresh effort to unify christianity through social justice issues.

The European Ecumenical Assembly, scheduled to begin June 23, will bring together 700 Church delegates and thousands of Christian believers in the first meeting of its kind since the collapse of communism in the eastern bloc.

The General Secretary of the Conference of European Churches, Jean Fischer, said that unemployment, growing poverty and mounting social injustice are among European concerns which demand a response from all Christians. Churches in western, central and eastern Europe, need to work together to tackle these “burning issues” of church and society, he said.

The Conference of European Churches – comprised of 119 European denominations – brings together Orthodox, Anglican, Protestant and Catholic practitioners, along with the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, in which Roman Catholic Bishops also take part. The upcoming gathering in Graz is co-sponsored by these groups.

Since 1989, when the first European Ecumenical Assembly took place in Basle, Switzerland, Christian Churches in Eastern Europe have grown significantly. The collapse of communist regimes showed that “there was overt and covert repression of religious expression throughout Eastern Europe” but the new fruits of capitalism also were termed “worrisome” by the Assembly.

Russia has experienced a rapid expansion of organized crime, of money-laundering, of prostitution and other forms of corruption that erode the social fabric. A source close to the World Council of Churches (WCC) said that the assemblage of Christian denominations hoped to reverse mounting manifestations of decadence.

Today, the Russian Orthodox Church administers hospitals, orphanages, retirement homes which were previously in State hands. They are also responsible for coordinating a large number of soup kitchens.

The WCC source explained that churches always existed under communist rule, but were shackled by mandated limitations. For example, the faithful could only meet inside Church buildings, and then only for purposes of adoration and liturgical participation. These restrictions made it impossible for Churches to undertake their traditional roles as servants of the poor and advocates of justice.

Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Milan, and Muscovite Patriarch Alexy II – head of the Russian Orthodox Church – will give keynote addresses at the Graz Assembly. Another pre-eminent Orthodox leader, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, has also announced he will attend the Second European Ecumenical Assembly, an event whose motto declares: “Reconciliation: a gift of God and a fountain of new life.”

His Holiness Karekin I, Catholics of the Armenian Orthodox Church, will also attend the event. The process of reconciliation among Christian sects was formally endorsed by the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Since then, the Catholic Church no longer addresses Christians who deny papal authority as “heretics,” but rather as “separated brothers and sisters.”

According to a source within the World Council of Churches, Pope John Paul II consistently affirmed Catholicism’s ecumenical calling, although, “at times, he reflects more traditional, conservative tendencies within the Church.”

Some Vatican decisions have created tension between traditionalists and ecumenicists. For example, Pope John Paul II has consistently replaced Latin American progressives with conservatives, many of whom belong to the ultra-conservative Catholic organization ‘Opus Dei.’

The theme of ecumenism in the international arena will be considered at next year’s Eighth World Council of Churches Assembly, to be held in Harare with participation by Churches – Christian and non-Christian – from all over the world. Although the Catholic Church is not an official member of the World Council of Churches, it does participate in numerous WCC activities.

The Roman Church has representatives on WCC’s Faith and Constitution Commission, whose purpose is to explore sources of division among the world’s churches and to express ecclesiastical common ground.

The Harare Assembly will examine the progress of inter-ecclesiastical relations, as well as ongoing dialogue between Christians and people of other belief systems such as Moslems, Buddhists and Jews.

The World Council of Churches’ Inter-ecclesiastical Relations Office works to foster dialogue and cooperation among adherents of diverse religions, with particular focus on areas of common interest such as environmental degradation, consumerism and nuclear threat.

The Conference of European Churches has issued a warning concerning non-Christian sects “that have recently arisen with the intention of obstructing the missionary work of many Churches. This obstructionism makes it very difficult to conduct ecumenical work at the local level.”