Belgrade conference underlines Edict of Milan

(Vatican Radio) An ecumenical conference on “Religion, Authority and the State” concluded in Belgrade on Saturday, following four days of discussions among theologians of different religious traditions, brought together by the Ecclesiological Investigations International Research Network. Participants also visited local sites connected to the 1,700^th anniversary of the Edict of Milan, which made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Philippa Hitchen attended the meeting and reports on some unexpected discoveries of the final day. Listen:

Remember Manfred, the lovable woolly mammoth from the Ice Age films? Well, close to the ancient Roman city of Viminacium in eastern Serbia, which we visited on Saturday, archaeologists have unearthed an astonishing graveyard of the hairy prehistoric creatures, which became extinct around 10,000 years ago.

The first skeleton of a female mammoth, nicknamed Vika and believed to be up to one million years old, was brought to light in 2009. Since then, experts have uncovered the bones of five or six other giant mammals, lying under the corn fields close to the River Danube.
The Roman remains themselves offer a fascinating insight into life in that part of the empire, from the first to the fifth century, when the town was destroyed by invading Huns. Frescoed tombs, baths, latrines and a large amphitheatre have all been excavated, though that only represents a fraction of the 450-hectare site still waiting to be discovered. Viminacium, the provincial capital and major military camp, lay along what Serbians proudly call “the Road of the Roman Emperors”, since 18 Roman rulers were born in that region.
Constantine the Great is included among those, which is why the conference was held in Belgrade to mark the anniversary of his Edict granting religious freedom to all believers throughout the Roman Empire, 1,700 years on though, it’s not uncommon to find critics prophesying the end of Christianity, often seen as the source of much conflict from those first centuries right up until the present day.

With churches emptying, parishes closing and numbers of priests and religious dwindling in the West at least, many see the traditional denominations headed down the same road to extinction as those mammoths, apparently unable to adapt to the changing climate conditions of that era.

Far from such gloomy predictions, however, this meeting was all about the emerging and vital signs of a new Christian era – one in which faith communities are called to provide an essential counterbalance to the increasingly dehumanising global economy.

Tensions between church and state have existed since Constantine’s day and the wounds of history remain at the heart of national and religious identities – nowhere is that more obvious than in this Balkan region. But these annual encounters of young theologians, historians and ecumenists are all about finding new ways of being Church together. They’re about pushing boundaries, sharing visions and exploring new possibilities of cooperation and common witness to the world. Plenty to celebrate here then, in this important anniversary year.