BENEDICT'S EUROPE

The Presidency of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE) are currently in Rome to meet with Curia officials and discuss issues facing the Church in Europe as well as ongoing projects.
On Monday they were received in private audience by Pope Benedict XVI. A statement released shortly after the audience said; “The meeting with Pope Benedict XVI was held in a climate of great cordiality. At first, the Pope recalled his recent trip to Portugal with feelings of emotion and joy. The discussion then continued focusing on the situation of the Catholic Church in Europe, on the viability of some local dioceses (especially those in countries where Catholics are a minority) on the problems which the Church faces, activities and ongoing CCEE projects to enhance its mission of proclaiming the Gospel in Europe. The discussion was rich and productive”.
After the meeting, Cardinal Péter Erdo, CCEE President, gave the Pope a copy of the icon "Saints for Europe", a work by the Deputy Secretary General of CCEE, Don Ferenc Janka, a Hungarian Greek-Catholic priest.
CCEE Secretary-General, Father Duarte da Cunha:
“It an was an informal meeting which allowed us to describe and explain to the Holy Father and the Curia what we are doing at CCEE with the Episcopal Conferences: thus, collaboration, projects and key issues were addressed. It was a very good meeting with the Holy Father, in which you could also see his joy from his recent trip to Portugal. We also had the opportunity to discuss the current difficulties in Europe which is moving away from its Christian roots. The Pope insists on evangelization and hope, to rebuild from the roots a new society of hope and charity. It was very important to see how attentive he was to the things we were saying. It was a great comfort for us. It is really a very important and decisive moment for Europe, of which the Bishops are fully aware”.
Q. - It 's also a difficult time ...
“Very difficult, but we understand that one can not look only at the problems. The Church can not remain closed under the threat of those who, unfortunately and it's very serious, have tarnished the Church. The Church must move forward, because there is so much to do and we can not just stand still. We will have the next plenary session in October and the main topic will be demography and the family, looking at the core issues that affects family life. We will also speak about the ecumenical process with the Orthodox, not dogmatic or theological issues, rather social and ethical issues that affect our communities. We will also have a big pilgrimage promoting the safeguarding of creation. We are going to have an ecumenical prayer pilgrimage to Mariazell in September to celebrate creation in communion with the Orthodox. We are of course a small secretariat we cannot do everything but at least we are trying to do something.
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