At 10:00am today, the Holy Father met with the members of the Joint Committee of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and of the Council of Conferences of European Bishops (CCEE).
Dear brothers and sisters,
I cordially welcome you and thank you for your visit. I particularly want to thank Cardinal Péter Erdő and Reverend Christopher Hill for their courteous words.
The Committee of which you are part is designed to accompany the ecumenical journey in Europe, where many of the divisions that still exist among Christians began. For a long time, Christians on this continent have fought one against another. Today, thank God, the situation is much different. The ecumenical movement has allowed the Church and the ecclesial community in Europe to accomplish great strides on the road to reconciliation and peace. Recent European Ecumenical Assemblies and the Charta Oecumenica, drafted in Strasbourg in 2001, are factors of fruitful collaboration between the Conference of European Churches and the Council of European Episcopal Conferences. These initiatives are sources of great hope for overcoming divisions, and of making us aware of the length of the road that leads toward full and visible communion between all the believers in Christ. In truth, however, the road, with all its trials, is already an integral part of the process of reconciliation and communion that the Lord asks of us and makes it possible for us to accomplish, so long as it is lived in charity and truth.
The Conciliar Decree on ecumenism, Unitatis redintegratio affirms that the division between Christians denigrates the holy cause of preaching the gospel to every creature (UR, 1). This is evident, for example, when the Churches and the Ecclesial Community in Europe present various visions on important anthropological or ethical questions. Therefore, I hope that you will not miss out on fruitful occasions for shared reflection, in the light of Sacred Scripture and of shared tradition. Looking together toward the Lord Jesus Christ, the revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, fully reveals man to man and makes his supreme calling clear (Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution, Gaudium et spes, 22), we can find common responses to the questions that contemporary society asks of us Christians. The closer we are to Christ, the more we are united among ourselves.
Today, the Church and the European Ecclesial Community are facing new and decisive challenges, to which we will only be able to give effective response if we speak with one united voice. I think, for example, of the challenge posed by legislation that, in the name of a misinterpreted principle of tolerance, ends up preventing citizens from freely and practically expressing in a peaceful and legitimate way their own religious convictions. In addition, faced with the attitude with with Europe seems to address the dramatic and often tragic migration of thousands of people who are fleeing war, persecution and misery, the Church and the European Ecclesial Community have an obligation to work together to promote solidarity and hospitality. European Christians are called to intercede with prayer and action in order to promote dialogue and peace in response to the current conflicts.
Renewing my gratitude for your ecclesial service, I invoke upon you the ongoing blessing of the Lord. Please, don't forget to pray for me. Thank you.
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the meeting with
Members of the CEC and the CCEE
Dear brothers and sisters,
I cordially welcome you and thank you for your visit. I particularly want to thank Cardinal Péter Erdő and Reverend Christopher Hill for their courteous words.
The Committee of which you are part is designed to accompany the ecumenical journey in Europe, where many of the divisions that still exist among Christians began. For a long time, Christians on this continent have fought one against another. Today, thank God, the situation is much different. The ecumenical movement has allowed the Church and the ecclesial community in Europe to accomplish great strides on the road to reconciliation and peace. Recent European Ecumenical Assemblies and the Charta Oecumenica, drafted in Strasbourg in 2001, are factors of fruitful collaboration between the Conference of European Churches and the Council of European Episcopal Conferences. These initiatives are sources of great hope for overcoming divisions, and of making us aware of the length of the road that leads toward full and visible communion between all the believers in Christ. In truth, however, the road, with all its trials, is already an integral part of the process of reconciliation and communion that the Lord asks of us and makes it possible for us to accomplish, so long as it is lived in charity and truth.
The Conciliar Decree on ecumenism, Unitatis redintegratio affirms that the division between Christians denigrates the holy cause of preaching the gospel to every creature (UR, 1). This is evident, for example, when the Churches and the Ecclesial Community in Europe present various visions on important anthropological or ethical questions. Therefore, I hope that you will not miss out on fruitful occasions for shared reflection, in the light of Sacred Scripture and of shared tradition. Looking together toward the Lord Jesus Christ, the revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, fully reveals man to man and makes his supreme calling clear (Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution, Gaudium et spes, 22), we can find common responses to the questions that contemporary society asks of us Christians. The closer we are to Christ, the more we are united among ourselves.
Today, the Church and the European Ecclesial Community are facing new and decisive challenges, to which we will only be able to give effective response if we speak with one united voice. I think, for example, of the challenge posed by legislation that, in the name of a misinterpreted principle of tolerance, ends up preventing citizens from freely and practically expressing in a peaceful and legitimate way their own religious convictions. In addition, faced with the attitude with with Europe seems to address the dramatic and often tragic migration of thousands of people who are fleeing war, persecution and misery, the Church and the European Ecclesial Community have an obligation to work together to promote solidarity and hospitality. European Christians are called to intercede with prayer and action in order to promote dialogue and peace in response to the current conflicts.
Renewing my gratitude for your ecclesial service, I invoke upon you the ongoing blessing of the Lord. Please, don't forget to pray for me. Thank you.
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