Commitment through prayer
”Having committed ourselves to a common journey, we have sought to build mutual trust and understanding by working and praying together. (…) Through prayer and action, we hope to engender renewed enthusiasm for our ecumenical journey. Every Christian is warmly invited to join this pilgrimage of hope, and to give common testimony by walking with Christ in order to discover a new vocation for Europe.”

This was written by the 150 delegates in the end of the first stage of the Third European Ecumenical Assembly (EEA3), an ecumenical meeting that took place in Rome, Italy, 24-27 January 2006. Participants came from over 40 European countries and churches, 34 bishops’ conferences and more than 50 church related movements and ecumenical bodies.

4 step process
The theme for the EEA3 four-step process, arranged by the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE), is “The light of Christ shines upon all – Hope for renewal and unity in Europe”. The third European Ecumenical Assembly follows in its own way the two former assemblies which took place in Basel (1989) and in Graz (1997), and also builds on the ecumenical document Charta Oecumenica (signed by CEC and CCEE in 2001).

The Assembly will not be a copy of the former ones, not least because of the different ecumenical and political situation in Europe. The Third Assembly is not an end in itself, but one attempt from European Christians to respond to the question whether unity is feasible.

The aims of the Assembly will be to celebrate together the already existing communion in Christ among Christians in Europe, to acknowledge our failures, to expand and deepen the ecumenical network and to learn from each other’s traditions. The Assembly will also work with the topical challenges set by the society for the churches.

Having the subtheme “Rediscovering new light in the crucified and risen Christ on the road to reconciliation between Christians in Europe”, one of the Rome encounter’s objective was to discuss the “gift of life which the gospel of Christ is for Europe today”, the possibility of living the Gospel in Europe often marked by secularization, and the many challenges for churches in the societies: expectations of women, men and youth, Christian identity, pluralism, European unification and Europe’s responsibility towards other continents, migration, peace, other religions.

Letter to European Christian
A Letter to the Christians of Europe, written by the participants, states: “Our continent has taken great steps forward politically and culturally, and yet exploitation, exclusion, oppression and violence are still enormous obstacles on our way. (…) We seek to be faithful in a new European context, where faith is often marginalised.”

Although the Assembly process will not deal directly with higher level doctrinal questions, in Rome lots of time was dedicated to theological reflection regarding the theme “The light of Christ shines upon all”. Ecumenical situation, needs for the common witness in the secularized Europe and Christian responsibility in the society were analysed and space was given to ecumenical grassroot movements such as Taizé, Community of Sant’Egidio and Focolare to share their experiences.

The topics of Christian martyrs of the 20th century, migrant churches and ecumenical youth meetings, to mention a few, were presented. The Charta Oecumenica, the basic document for the Assembly process, was presented and the themes church unity, participation in the building of Europe, migration, environment, relations with Islam, and globalisation were discussed in small groups.

Spiritual life
From opening prayer to the concluding one, spiritual life was a visible and essential part of the encounter. The prayers and Bible meditations were hold by various churches and movements from local churches and Pope Benedict XVI to H.E. Bishop Armen Zakarian (Armenian Apostolic Church), Rev. Dr. Susan Helen Jones (Church of Wales) and brother Alois of Taizé (prior of the community). The delegates took part in a “Pilgrimage in remembrance of the Apostle Paul”, in a Vesper presided by Pope Benedict XVI at the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and in a private audience with the Pope in Vatican.

The novelty of the Assembly is that it does not consist of one event only, but of different stages. The two year EEA3 process – or symbolical European ”pilgrimage”- will culminate in the Sibiu Assembly, Romania, in September 2007. Simultaneously there will be meetings in several other European cities. Prior to the Assembly the Christians of the Europe will arrange local and regional meetings (2nd stage) and meet in Lutherstadt-Wittenberg, Germany, in February 2007 (3rd stage).

More information online
The letter to the Christians of Europe, other documents from the meeting and further information on the Assembly process are available at www.eea3.org, at the official EEA3 Assembly webpage.

Laura Hytti

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