EN | IT | DE – It was no easy way to realize how the Catholic Church would be involved in the great commemoration of the Reformation in in 2017. But now the matter is decided – and the result is very good.
EN | IT – Having received the news of the forthcoming meeting between His Holiness Pope Francis and His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and of All Russia, the president of Ccee (Council of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Europe), cardinal Péter Erdő, wanted to express his joy at this historic meeting by sending a letter to Patriarch Kirill.
EN | IT – “A clear sign of the strong interest of the EU Commission to continue the dialogue with the churches”: this is the meaning, in the words of Card. Reinhard Marx, President of the Commission of the Bishops Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), of the meeting that the bishops of the 28 EU countries had with President Jean-Claude Juncker and his deputy Frans Timmermans, during the plenary session that took place in Brussels from 18th to 20th March.
EN | IT – March 16, Pope Francis received Brother Alois in a private audience, for the second time in his pontificate. The Pope proved himself to be highly attentive to the ecumenical vocation of the Community and to their activity of welcoming young people to Taizé. He will pray in communion with all those who will be gathered in Taizé on August 16, which will mark the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Brother Roger and the tenth anniversary of his death.
EN | FR | IT – From 29th December to 2nd January, 2015, the Taizé community will host in the Czech capital the 37th European youth meetings it organizes at the end of each year. Here are some echoes of the preparation.
EN | IT – Last week it was my privilege to meet Pope Francis for the third time. I first met him after his installation. This past summer, at his invitation, I visited him in his home for a three-hour private, non-scripted conversation. Last Thursday I led a 24-person delegation of leaders from the World Evangelical Alliance for an historic official meeting. During each encounter I recognised his warmth, authenticity, sense of humour and depth of spirituality. This only confirmed what I was told by our Evangelical colleagues from Argentina who know Pope Francis well from the time when he was still Cardinal Bergoglio.
EN | FR | IT – Quasi mezzo secolo fa, mentre il Concilio Vaticano II si avvicinava alla conclusione, i vescovi della Polonia presero l’iniziativa d’inviare una lettera ai loro confratelli dell’episcopato tedesco. Nel loro messaggio, perdonavano e chiedevano perdono e desideravano “salutare e ringraziare i fratelli protestanti tedeschi” per il loro impegno nel “trovare soluzioni alle difficoltà” che avevano diviso i due popoli. Questo esempio spiega i diversi possibili punti di contatto tra il cammino ecumenico e la costruzione europea: il peso della storia, la gravità delle divisioni, la necessità del perdono.
EN | IT – While everybody is talking and has been talking about Brazil, with all its problems and contradictions, as the country hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup, there’s another reason to talk about Brazil, which will “host” – and this is certainly much less known – the 2015 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (January 18 to 25, 2015). It was actually a work group coordinated by the Council of Churches of this South American country (Conic) who prepared the resources for next Week of Prayer entitled “Give me to drink”, taking as a starting point the passage in the Gospel where Jesus comes across a Samaritan woman (John 4:7).
EN | IT – A message in nine points was born in Minsk, Bielorussia, where the IV Catholic-Orthodox Forum took place from 2 to 6 June 2014. “Religion and Cultural Diversity: Challenges for the Christian Churches in Europe” was the general theme of the meeting, which gathered 35 representatives of the orthodox churches in Europe and of the catholic bishops conferences, from 22 European countries. The Forum opened with a prayer for peace in Europe and the Ukraine in the crypt of Minsk’s Memorial Church of All Saints and Innocent Victims in the Motherland.
EN | DE | IT – Pope Francis goes on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the real reason being the common prayer with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the highest representatives of orthodoxy. 50 years ago Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I met as brothers in the episcopate in Jerusalem, after centuries of separation between the Catholic and the Orthodox Church. It was an emotion which was felt all over the world. With the meeting in January 1964 doors were opened, which the events and changes in the church and in the world politics could close anymore. What will the meeting between the Pope and the Ecumenical Patriarch at the place of the suffering and resurrection of Christ bring this time? A decisive bold step forwards on the road to restoration of Christian unity?