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Holy Father,

It is a great joy to be able to meet you on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Joint Committee which gathers the delegations of these two European organisations, the Council of European Episcopal Conferences, which brings together all the Catholic episcopates of the European continent, and the Conference of European Churches, which groups 120 churches and church bodies in Europe.

In the course of our meetings we wish to continue that ecumenical effort which, in faithfulness to the Lord Jesus, seeks to renew communion between all his disciples. We are convinced that praying and working together for unity is an integral part of Christian identity. This Joint Commitee has been meeting since the 70s: down the years different initiatives have arisen from it, representing the start of a true renewal of relationships and so many experiences of collaboration. Among the initiatives proposed, I recall with gratitude the three great Ecumenical Assemblies in Europe, in fact organised jointly by CCEE and CEC.

I am delighted to be able to offer witness to you that even in the difficulties stemming from centuries of division, there has grown up and is still growing today both personal friendship between leaders of the different Churches and awareness of the urgency of “being together” to witness to today’s world – and especially in a secularised Europe – that God exists and loves us, and that in Jesus Christ, in whom the merciful face of God has been revealed to us, we feel driven to go out to meet everyone to bring the faith, hope and charity which Jesus reveals to us and of which he makes us partakers.

We find ourselves at a particularly problematic time for Christians in the world. Persecution in different parts of the world and discrimination which sadly takes place in European countries, too, are signs of the suffering of so many Christians, irrespective of their denomination. It as if someone wants to “shelve” the Christian presence in society and ensure faith is absent from public life. The ecumenism of blood is an obvious sign of the love for Christ to which so many of our brothers and sisters give witness, showing through their sacrifice that love triumphs over death and hatred. Those of us here present do not want to waste this blood which has been shed, but we want to welcome the gift of the lives of so many Christians, sure that this makes us more united to Jesus Christ and in Him between ourselves.

Holy Father, we thank you sincerely for your special concern for our continent, shown especially during your visit to Strasbourg, in your unforgettable speeches to the European Parliament and the Council of Europe. Thanks to the invaluable stimulus you have given us,we are able to work in the circumstances of individualism and pessimism, giving witness to faith, solidarity and the community represented in its authentic form of families.

Holy Father, we want to thank you for having granted us this audience and for all the other moments when, welcoming everyone irrespective of their own origins and recommending opening oneself to God’s mercy, you help us never to interrupt the path of faithfulness to Jesus, which we hope can lead as soon as possible to the full unity of the Church.

Holy Father, we beseech your Apostolic Blessing!

Cardinal Péter Erdő,

President of CCEE

Santo Padre,

In this Joint-Meeting of the CEC and the CCEE here in Rome we are discussing a Christian approach to Freedom and Liberties. Since the atrocities in Paris and before that this is a highly topical matter. Freedom of expression is fundamental but how do we use our freedom not only as individuals; how do we use freedom for the well being of the whole community.

In greeting you, Holy Father from the CEC, I am conscious that you are deeply aware of the issues we are discussing ecumenically. In Your Holiness' Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, you speak "of the process of secularisation which tends to reduce the faith and the Church to the sphere of the private and personal".(64), and of "a moral relativisation joined to the absolute right of individuals" (64), as well as attacks on religious freedom, of religious indifference and of a culture "where each person wants to be the bearer of his or her own subjective truth", impeding a common good which "transcends individual gain and personal ambition" (61).

You invite all Christians to renew their encounter with Jesus Christ. We thank you for this message and for your Apostolic Exhortation, which assures us that you know the modern European predicament. It is in this context that all Christian must strive by God's grace "to proclaim the gospel afresh to each generation" (Anglican Declaration of Assent).

Holy Father, the Conference of European Churches was born in the time of the Cold War in Europe. But Europe today is in danger of fragmentation and conflict still. CEC and CCEE have recently worked on questions to do with the Roma people. Other questions also face Europe, such as migration and asylum, the division of the Ukraine, and a general increasing economic disparity which creates injustice.

We pledge ourselves to continue to work closely together as Catholics in CCEE and as Anglicans, Orthodox and Protestants in CEC. Together we represent all the classical churches of the European continent. As you yourself have put it, again in Evangelii Gaudium,"ecumenism can be seen as a contribution to the unity of the human family ... Division between Christians ... adds further causes of conflict on the part of those who should instead be a leaven of peace" (246).

But in working together there is also the profound joy of the Gospel we share. It is a special joy - an ecumenical gospel joy - for us to meet with you this morning.

+ Christopher Hill,

President, CEC

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