Jeg har lest dokumentet som ble resultatet av den økumeniske møte i Romania sist uke. I tillegg til dette dokumentet kommer selvsagt de personlige kontaktene deltakerne har hatt – kanskje noe av det viktigste i økumenisk arbeid. De siste åra har det vel knapt nok vært forventinger om teologiske gjennombrudd når man møtes økumenisk, skuffende for alle som husker tilbake til den økumeniske oppstarten fra slutten av 60-tallet, og felleserklæringa om rettferdiggjørelsen fra 1999.
Dokumentet avsluttes med 10 anbefalinger, og sier noe om Kristus som verdens lys, og noe om å bevare skaperverket. Dette er vel og bra, men egentlig syns jeg ikke det er så svært spennende. Les selv:
Recommendation One: We recommend renewing our mission as individual believers and as Churches to proclaim Christ as the Light and the Saviour of the world;
Recommendation Two: We recommend continuing the discussion on mutual recognition of baptism, taking into account the important achievements on this topic in several countries and being aware that the question is deeply linked to an understanding of eucharist, ministry and ecclesiology in general;
Recommendation Three: We recommend finding ways of experiencing the activities which can unite us: prayer for each other and for unity, ecumenical pilgrimages, theological formation and study in common, social and diaconal initiatives, cultural projects, supporting society life based on Christian values;
Recommendation Four: We recommend the full participation of the whole people of God and, at this Assembly in particular, note the appeal of young people, the elderly, ethnic minorities, and disabled people.
The light of Christ for Europe
We consider that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:27) and deserves the same degree of respect and love, despite differences of belief, culture, age, gender, or ethnic origin. Being aware that our common roots lie much deeper than our divisions, while looking for renewal and unity and the role of the Churches in today’s European society, we focussed on our encounter with people of other religions. Aware in particular of our unique relationship with the Jewish peoples as people of the Covenant, we reject all forms of contemporary anti-Semitism and, with them, will foster Europe as a continent free of every form of violence. There have been periods in our European history of harsh conflicts but there have also been periods of peaceful co-existence among people of all religions. In our day there is no alternative to dialogue: not compromise, but a dialogue of life where we can speak the truth in love. We all need to learn more about all religions, and the recommendations of Charta Oecumenica should be developed further. We appeal to our fellow Christians and all who believe in God to respect other people’s right to religious freedom, and express our solidarity with Christian communities who live in the Middle East, Iraq, and elsewhere in the world as religious minorities and feel that their very existence is under threat.
As we meet Christ in our needy sisters and brothers (Mt 25:44-45), together enlightened by the Light of Christ, we Christians, according to biblical injunctions to the unity of humanity (Gen 1.26-27), commit ourselves to repent for the sin of exclusion; deepen our understanding of ‘otherness’; defend the dignity and rights of every human being, and ensure protection to those in need of it; share the light of Christ which others bring to Europe; call upon European states to stop illegal administrative detention of migrants, make every effort to ensure regular immigration, the integration of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, uphold the value of family unity and combat trafficking in human beings and exploitation of trafficked persons. We call on Churches to increase their pastoral care of vulnerable immigrants.
Recommendation Five: We recommend that our Churches should recognise that Christian immigrants are not just the recipients of religious care but that they can play a full and active role in the life of the Church and of society; offer better pastoral care for migrants, asylum seekers and refugees; and promote the rights of ethnic minorities in Europe, particularly the Roma people.
Many of us are thankful that we have experienced profound changes in Europe in recent decades. Europe is more than the European Union. As Christians we share the responsibility for shaping Europe as a continent of peace, solidarity, participation and sustainability. We appreciate the commitment of the European Institutions, including the EU, Council of Europe, and the OSCE, to an open, transparent and regular dialogue with the Churches of Europe. Europe’s highest political representatives honoured us with their presence and thus expressed strong interest in our work. We have to face the challenge to bring spiritual strengths into this dialogue. Europe was initially a political project to secure peace and it now needs to become a Europe of the peoples, more than an economic space.
Recommendation Six: We recommend developing the Charta Oecumenica as a stimulating guideline for our ecumenical journey in Europe.
The light of Christ for the whole world
The Word of God disquiets us and our European culture: those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again! Christians must be free from fear and insatiable avarice that make us live for ourselves, powerless, narrow-minded and closed. The Word of God invites us to avoid squandering the precious heritage of those who for the last sixty years have worked for peace and unity in Europe. Peace is an extraordinary and precious gift. Entire countries aspire to peace. Entire peoples are waiting to be delivered from violence and terror. We urgently commit ourselves to renewed efforts towards these ends. We reject war as a tool for resolving conflict, promote non-violent means for conflict resolution, and are concerned about military re-armament. Violence and terrorism in the name of religion are a denial of religion.
The Light of Christ shines on the term ‘justice’, linking it to divine mercy. Thus enlightened it escapes any ambiguous pretence. Throughout the world and even in Europe the current process of radical market globalisation is deepening the division of human society between winners and losers, harms the value of countless people, has catastrophic ecological implications and precisely in view of climate change is not compatible with sustaining the future of our planet.
Recommendation Seven: We urge all European Christians to give strong support to the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations as an urgent practical step towards the alleviation of poverty.
Recommendation Eight: We recommend that a consultative process, addressing European responsibility for ecological justice, facing the threat of climate change; European responsibility for the just shaping of globalisation; the rights of Roma people and other European ethnic minorities, be initiated by CCEE and CEC, with the Churches in Europe and with Churches of other continents.
Today more than ever, we acknowledge that Africa, a continent already intertwined with our own history and future, experiences levels of poverty about which we cannot remain indifferent and inactive. The wounds of Africa touched the heart of our Assembly.
Recommendation Nine: We recommend backing initiatives for debt cancellation and the promotion of fairtrade.
Through sincere and objective dialogue, we contribute to and promote the creation of a renewed Europe, where unchangeable Christian principles and moral values, derived directly from the Gospel, serve as a witness and promote active engagement in European society. Our task is to promote these principles and values, not only in private but also in public life. We will cooperate with people of other religions who share our concern for creating a Europe of values that also prospers politically and economically.
Concerned about God’s creation, we pray for a greater sensitivity and respect for its wonderful diversity. We work against its shameless exploitation, from which the “whole creation awaits its redemption,” (Rom 8:22) and commit ourselves to working for reconciliation between humanity and nature.
Recommendation Ten: We recommend that the period from the 1st September to the 4th of October be dedicated to prayer for the protection of Creation and the promotion of sustainable lifestyles that reverse our contribution to climate change.
Hele dokumentet fins her.
Men var det ikke «store fremskritt», da?