wfn.org | CEC Commission "Churches in Dialogue" meets in Germany

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

Breaking down anti-ecumenical tendencies in Europe

MUNSTER, Germany/GENEVA, 4 June 1998 (lwi)   The new moderator of the
Commission "Churches in Dialogue" of the Conference of European Churches
(CEC), Reinhard Frieling, has called for quick action to combat anti-ecumenical tendencies. Frieling is director of the Institute for
Confessional Study of the Evangelical Alliance in Germany.

A new kind of ethno-nationalism and fundamentalism is spreading in European
society, warned Frieling. He was speaking at a recent meeting of the CEC
Commission, formerly its Study Committee, in Munster, Germany. In view of
these developments, the various Christian confessions, which for centuries
have been cultural factors as well as products of the cultures of nation-states, must take a self-critical look at their Christian identity,
Frieling said. He called for confessional bodies to strive for dialogue
with one another in which to relativise and reconcile the national and
cultural elements within the churches in the light of the broad, universal
identity of the churches as the body of Christ. In addition, the
relationships between majority and minority churches in Europe must be
improved, he said.

CEC General Secretary Keith Clements also underlined the significance of
dialogue among the churches, as a chance to work against the political
misuse of religion in national and ethnic conflicts and to promote peace in
Europe. It would be fatal for the churches and confessions to retreat into
their individual concerns, Clements warned. The CEC, he said, is an
effective instrument for promoting the relevance of Christian faith and of
the churches for Europe.

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