The CCEE President, Cardinal Péter Erdő, focuses on the theme of the meeting.
At the heart of the reflections of the Presidents of Europe’s Bishops’ Conferences, members of CCEE, will be reflection on the theme The challenges of our time: social and spiritual aspects. The topic will be introduced through three interventions which will take the theme in different ways.
These interventions have been entrusted to: the Archbishop of Malines-Brussels, Mgr André-Joseph Léonard, President of the Belgian Bishops’ Conference; Prof. Marta Cartabia, lecturer in law and Judge of the Constitutional Court in Italy; and Prof. Kuno Schedler, lecturer in business economics at the University of St Gallen.
Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest (Hungary) and President of CCEE, explains the reasons behind the choice of theme and venue: “We are gathering in St Gallen to commemorate the 1400th anniversary of Saint Gall’s arrival in the city. We will be pilgrims, to listen to Saint Gall who had a very important role in the evangelisation of what was then a remote part of Switzerland. As in every pilgrimage, our meeting will revolve around prayer of praise to the Lord, through the various celebrations which will characterise our programme, and discernment, in particular about “the spiritual and social challenges of our time”. In fact, at this time of economic difficulty, people today, the European citizens of our countries, can easily allow themselves to succumb to the major epidemic of our time: desperation. The lack of hope is the greatest evil of our time. An anthropological revolution is underway which disorientates the human person, deceives the person and runs the risk of making the person lose him or herself. The Church is grateful to the Lord for having received the answer to the most profound expectations of humanity, to its most hidden yearning and nostalgia for the Other. The answer is Christ. The new evangelisation, the theme which has been accompanying us in recent years, is an opportunity and an appeal, to work so that Christ, always the same yesterday and today, can be understood and welcomed by everyone. A heart which has found its way in Christ will be able to perform miracles in the family, at school, at work and in different national and international institutions”.
Other issues to be tackled during the four-day meeting include: the question of discrimination against Christians in Europe and the persecution of Christians throughout the world; the question of freedom of religion; the work of the European Union and the Council of Europe; the Year of Faith; and the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.
Also attending the meeting in St. Gallen will be the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, and representatives from the continental ecclesial bodies for Latin America (CELAM) and Africa (SECAM), as well as Kazakhstan. Various bishops from the Swiss Bishops’ Conference will also attend some parts of the meeting.
Representatives, too, from the civil and ecclesial institutions of the city and canton of St Gallen will also meet with the bishops.
The meeting is taking place in St Gallen, at the offices of CCEE, at the invitation of Mgr Markus Büchel, Bishop of St. Gallen.