wfn.org | CHRISTIAN COMMUNICATORS CALL FOR NEW COVENANT FOR EUROPE

["Ruth Gill" <rag@cec-kek.org>]

Conference of European Churches - Office of  Communications
Press Release No. 05-11/e				     14 March 2005

CHRISTIAN COMMUNICATORS CALL FOR A NEW COVENANT FOR EUROPE
WACC Europe Assembly Met in Strasbourg, France, 10-13 March 2005

The Assembly of the European Region of the World Association for Christian
Communication (WACC) has called for a new social and moral covenant for
Europe. "Openness to re-negotiating and sharing public communication space
will be the first signs of this new covenant, and shared ownership and
editorial decision-making its inevitable consequences", participants in
the 10-13 March 2005 WACC Assembly in Strasbourg, France said in their
final statement.

The estimated 50 Christian communicators from 15 European countries were
drawn from church and secular media.

"Communicating identities and valuing differences in a changing Europe"
was the  theme under which participants discussed issues such as the head
scarf as a religious attire in France; the crucifix in public spaces in
Italy; the growing use of religious imagery in popular art and culture in
Germany; and the changing attitude towards tolerance in the Netherlands,
after the murder of film director, Theo van Gogh.

The participants stressed that "identities are a powerful means of uniting
communities, but at the same time they have great potential for division".
In this framework, "valuing differences is not enough. It also requires
people to overcome hostility and to work towards the reconfiguration of
the cultural landscape. This will only happen if we learn to see as others
see and to listen attentively to each other's stories. A plurality of
identities demands a plurality of story-telling that offers meaning rather
than simplistic answers".

The assembly's programme included a key-note presentation and two round
tables, with media representatives from France, Italy, the Netherlands,
Germany, Romania and Poland. The key-note speaker was Rev. Dr Hans Ucko,
from the Interreligious Relations and Dialogue Team of the World Council
of Churches (Geneva, Switzerland). He challenged communicators to
critically assess how they construct and represent others. "The self and
others are interdependent", he said, "others are often our own construction and projection".

The Assembly honoured Dr Albert van den Heuvel, the Netherlands (73), for
his continuous efforts in the field of communication and ecumenism with a
Faithful Communicators Award.

The WACC Europe Assembly was hosted by the Church of the Augsburg
Confession and the Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine. Participants
also visited the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe.

The Assembly elected a 12-member steering committee: Piet Halma (the
Netherlands, President), Juha Rajamäki (Finland, vice-president), Luca
Negro (Switzerland/Italy, secretary), Karin Achtelstetter (Switzerland/Germany, treasurer), Oddbjörg Aasen Bjöordal (Norway), Séverine Boudier
(France), Nicolae Dascalu (Romania), Chris Doude van Troostwijk (France/the Netherlands), Claudia Padovani (Italy), Milja Radovic (Serbia), Meelis
Süld (Estonia), and Karsten Visarius (Germany).

* * * *

WACC Europe is part of a global NGO which supports communication projects
mainly for people in the margins in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The
international headquarters of WACC are in London. Internet: www.wacc.org.uk
The Conference of European Churches (CEC) is a corporate member of
WACC.

For information:
Office of Communications
Conference of European Churches
Phone +41 22 791 64 85 or 791 63 25
Fax +41 22 791 62 27
e-mail press@cec-kek.org