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World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
25 June, 1997

WCC MESSAGE TO GRAZ ASSEMBLY
"Europe is in need of the reconciliation you seek" says a message sent
from the World Council of Churches (WCC) to the Second European
Ecumenical Assembly, which opened in Graz, Austria, on 23 June. The
message, from general secretary Rev. Konrad Raiser, offers a vision for
a reconciled continent, and echoes the assembly theme of 
"Reconciliation - Gift of God and Source of New Life".

The message alludes to changes since the first ecumenical assembly in
Basel in 1989: since then, Raiser says, Europe itself has "shattered
along the fault lines of ancient national ethnic, racial, religious and
confessional enmities".

Insisting that the task of reconciliation is "complex and daunting", Raiser
suggests that sometimes past wounds are "healed too lightly":
"Confession of guilt is not enough unless it is accompanied by concrete
acts of repentance and metanoia and is perceived by the victims as
genuine." And "as recent European wars of  ethnic cleansing  have
shown, our collective failure over the centuries to face the truth of the
victims has often made it impossible to find truly just solutions to today s
conflicts".

Christians, Raiser adds, "will be seen as credible reconcilers only to the
extent that they are able to become reconciled with one another." Hence,
the task before the assembly is to produce a vision of "a reconciled
Christian Church capable of contributing concretely to the healing of a
still deeply divided Europe".

This vision, he suggests, must be based, first of all, on the notion of the
socially responsible society - a vision of justice to which churches must
again turn their attention.

Secondly, the vision should target religious plurality, tolerance and
freedom: churches should "help shape the  soul of Europe " but not think
that they themselves are that soul, nor become "so bound up with
institutions that they... can no longer hold those institutions accountable".
The vision must also give guidance on "how to turn back the resurgent
tide of xenophobia, racism and anti-semitism... assure full protection of
the rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities... foster positive
interfaith relations... and guarantee the right to political dissent and
conscientious objection".

While a more secure future should be part of the vision, Raiser calls for
alternatives to military approaches. He also questions whether the
expansion of existing West European institutional frameworks for
security or cooperation is "a legitimate answer to the unique needs of
Eastern and Central Europe", and argues for "a fair and generous vision"
in this respect.

Fourthly, in relationships between nations, between a majority and
minorities, between men and women, and "particularly in the internal
theological, doctrinal or confessional divisions within the church", the
"need for an enemy" must be replaced by an inclusive vision, Raiser
says.

And reminding the assembly of  the suffering inflicted by Europe on its
former colonies, of its responsibility for global justice and peace, and of
how European theologies have helped despoil the environment, Raiser
concludes with a call for a vision that may "reconcile Europe with the
world and with the Creation".

The Second European Ecumenical Assembly has been jointly organized
by the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Conference of
the European Bishops  Conferences.

. 

**********
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 330, in
more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but
works cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest governing body is the
Assembly, which meets approximately every seven years.  The WCC
was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Its staff is
headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church
in Germany.

World Council of Churches
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