c. 1997 Religion News Service
UNDATED _ It’s being billed as the most important European religious gathering of the decade. Some 10,000 Christians _ including Orthodox, Protestant and Roman Catholics _ will descend on Graz, Austria, June 23-29 to hash out differences that have divided the church for centuries.
But if the lead up to the Second European Ecumenical Assembly is any indication of the prevailing mood, reconciliation will take a back seat to well-practiced ecclesiastical warfare.
The conference will feature speeches from religious leaders, discussion of three documents promoting reconciliation, and dozens of workshops on everything from employment practices to environmental degradation.
It is being sponsored by the Council of European (Roman Catholic) Bishops’ Conferences and the Conference of European Churches, which includes 118 European Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed, Old Catholic, Methodist, Baptist and other churches.
Agreement among the 700 official delegates, 350 from each group, is widely expected on a number of important issues, such as human rights and poverty. But conference participants will also be forced to grapple with the changing face of Europe after the collapse of communism in 1989 and the increasing disunity and hostility among religions on the continent.
Democratic reforms in Central and Eastern Europe have tested the conservative orthodoxy of the Roman Catholic Church, which is also straining from calls for reform in Western Europe.
Since the fall of communism, rifts among the Christian Orthodox churches have widened, with patriarchs in Moscow and Istanbul leading a very public drive for power.
Added to the combustible mix is the centuries-old standoff between Rome and the Orthodox over the primacy, or leadership, of the Roman papacy.
The first ecumenical assembly was held in 1989, six months before the collapse of the Berlin Wall. The conference goal was modest and achieved.”Simply to meet at all, to bring Christians together, was in itself an achievement,”said the Rev. John Arnold, president of the Conference of European Churches.”It was the first time in history that there had been an assembly of this size. And as a result, I would say the success of that was a considerable groundswell to have another assembly.” Since then, dialogue among all Christians has increased. But in many cases it has showcased differences from within and not settled disputes.
In addition, the religious leaders who met in May 1989 had no real idea as to how the end of the Cold War would affect their mission.”That was obviously a historic moment, though we didn’t fully know that at the time,”said Stefan Vesper, assembly secretary for the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences.”We didn’t really address the post-communist world. Now we have to find a new way, which is our task. What will our priorities be for the next 10, 20 years?” Said the Rev. Aldo Giordano, general secretary of the Bishops’ Conferences,”The most urgent task is ecumenism and social justice because the credibility of the churches and Christianity is at issue. We have to learn to appreciate the diversity among us.” But the post-Cold War world finds many religions unable or unwilling to exert their influence. Perhaps nowhere was this more evident than in the former Yugoslavia, where mutual hatred among Orthodox Christians and Catholics was unleased in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia.
Old antagonisms elsewhere were revived by the collapse of the East-West chill. In Moscow, the Russian Orthodox Church found its footing, and the leader of its 300 million Orthodox, Patriarch Alexii, clashed with Patriarch Bartholomew of Istanbul, spiritual leader of worldwide Orthodoxy, in a power struggle.
The contest has put a damper on the forthcoming assembly because Bartholomew,”first among equals”of the Orthodox Church, accused Alexii of trying to marginalize him by setting up a meeting on the eve of the assembly with Pope John Paul II.
In unusually blunt language, Bartholomew said he did”not wish to be part of a tug-of-war over superiority.”The patriarch canceled his appearance at the Graz assembly, saying, Alexii’s ploy was”not compatible with the spirit of reconciliation.” Ironically, Alexii called off the papal meeting, the second time he has done so, because he claimed the Vatican was seeking to manipulate the session to serve its interests.
The battle for converts and power has also intensified in the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine, where Orthodox and Catholics have repeatedly clashed, sometimes leading to violent outbursts.”They are not living in an easy time,”Giordano said.”After 1989 the Orthodox churches assumed new problems. They haven’t been resolved.” Assembly participants say the upcoming meeting will surely not resolve these conflicts or other hot spots _ notably Ireland _ but possibly nudge the warring factions to tone down their rhetoric and cease making incendiary moves.
In addition to issues born of religious difference, the leaders say they will seek to have a larger voice in the economic changes afoot in Europe. With the debate raging on the continent over the wisdom of a common currency, participants are expected to call for more job creation to combat rampant unemployment, much like the new socialist French government is seeking to do.
Religious leaders will also express alarm about increasing restrictions in numerous countries, including Austria, over the treatment of war refugees. But other than calls for humane treatment, the conference is not expected to offer concrete solutions.
MJP END HEILBRONNER
