wfn.org | CEC General Secretary on the death of Pope John Paul II

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

Conference of European Churches - Office of Communications
Press Release No. 15-12/efg		3 Aprill 2005

STATEMENT OF CEC GENERAL SECRETARY ON THE DEATH OF POPE JOHN PAUL II

With the news of the death of Pope John Paul II, the Conference of
European Churches (CEC) joins with Christians of all traditions throughout
the world who now turn to God, the God of all comfort, in the most solemn
prayer and reflection. A life and ministry of epochal significance in
modern Christianity has drawn to its earthly close. Recent years of
increasing physical trial and suffering have been mercifully concluded,
borne by the grace of him who now says to us anew "I am the resurrection
and the life." We in CEC particularly remember our brothers and sisters in
the Roman Catholic Church in their especial sense of loss. Yet we also
join with theirs our prayers of gratitude for all the grace which was
experienced through the life and witness of John Paul II.

For the churches and peoples of Europe John Paul II was a figure of
special significance. As a son of Poland he bore in his own life so much
of the most tragic experience of Europe in the twentieth century brought
by war and oppression, first under Nazi occupation and then under
communist totalitarianism. Equally, under these experiences he embodied
the finest spirit of European Christianity in refusing to compromise
either his faith or his humanity. As a leader of the Roman Catholic Church
in Poland it was he who did so much to inspire the cause of freedom and
human rights both in his native country and further afield in Eastern
Europe. His place in the history of change in Europe during the last
quarter of the twentieth century is secure. So too is his record during
his long pontificate, of advocating the cause of greater European unity,
the building of a "common European house" in which the Christianity of
both east and west has to share.

No aspect of his witness was more widely appreciated among all Christians
and people of goodwill than his continual call for peace in the world. It
was a call underlined by the way he spent himself in travelling so widely,
and by his capacity to communicate his convictions in a remarkably
personal way even in the largest public gatherings and to young people
especially.

The years of John Paul II's pontificate saw the churches of Europe
journeying more closely together at many levels. We in CEC have rejoiced
in our increasing co-operation with the Council of European Bishops'
Conferences (CCEE) which we know could not have happened without the
Pope's encouragement. We cherish the recollections of being welcomed as
fraternal delegates at the Special Synods of European Bishops in Rome,
1991 and 1999, during which our representatives were personally received
and entertained by His Holiness. On these occasions, and when the members
of the CEC-CCEE Joint Committee were received by him in Rome in 1998, we
were impressed by the sincerity of his welcome, his spirituality expressed
in friendship, and his affirmation that there is no alternative to the
ecumenical journey.

These and other examples of his encouragement to building bridges between
the Roman Catholic and other Churches have been important signs of hope to
us, notwithstanding the continuance of deep theological differences, the
emergence of new problems and the experiencing of some frustrations on
that ecumenical journey in recent years. Hope, as the Apostle Paul says,
does not disappoint us.

A time such as this naturally mingles together an immediate sense of loss
and uncertainty with memory and reflection on the past. A monumental
figure in our landscape is no more. But it is also a time of looking in
faith and hope to the God of all ages, whose grace is unbounded and whose
kingdom is to come. Our prayers for the Roman Catholic Church embrace
especially those to whom will now, under God, be entrusted the solemn
charge of electing the successor to Pope John Paul II. They will surely
know that they are accompanied in thought and prayer by all Christians who
hope for "the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace" to be strengthened in our time. To that end, above all, may they know the presence, power
and leading of the Holy Spirit as they seek to be of one mind in making
this choice of such moment for their own Church, for the hopes of all
Christians, and for the peace and welfare of all humankind.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all, evermore.

Rev. Dr Keith Clements
General Secretary of the Conference of European Churches

* * * *

The Conference of European Churches (CEC) is a fellowship of some 125
Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches from all
countries of Europe, plus 40 associated organisations. CEC was founded in
1959. It has offices in Geneva, Brussels and Strasbourg.

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 Luca.Negro@cec-kek.org