The Interreligious Dialogue in the Context of the New Europe: The European Ecumenical Movement

Abstract

The new Europe will bring together a plurality of religions, traditions and cultures. The process of European integration has not only political implications, but also economic, political, social and religious implications. In this context, the building of a New Europe requires a coherent interreligious dialogue. The perspectives of the world and European ecumenical movement concern the realization of the unity among churches, in the spirit of the prayer „that Jesus addressed to His Heavenly Father for his disciples and for those who trusted in him to be one” (The Bible, John, 17, 22) There is a visible tendency towards the realization of a unity in diversity, at the same time seeing the obstacles that exist in front of this vision. A big step forward in Europe was made by the cooperation between CEC and CCEE to organize the European Ecumenical Assemblies and to elaborate the document entitled Charta Oecumenica. The ecumenical dialogue is practically based on the phenomenon of the concentric circles. What is important is in fact how much the parts have in common or how far a Christian denomination has gone from the doctrinal, administrative and juridical point of view. The dialogue is the ideal means in putting face to face the different points of view, in examining the divergences that separate Christians. In the ecumenical dialogue, the seriousness of the engagement and the depth of the problems that require a solution are obvious. The force to end this long an difficult pilgrimage is in „this submission to the will of the Father, repentance and absolute trust in the power of the truth, which is Christ, to reconciliate”.