4 - 2001

Churches in Europe

Editorial

Europe is growing and knitting itself together, especially in terms of economics, but also politically. The wars of the past century and even the Cold War seem long forgotten. After the bloodshed of the First World War, and the even greater bloodshed of the Second, one could not have dreamed of where we are today. The gaps between Protestants, Anglicans, Catholics and Orthodox Christians in Europe, too, have become smaller. Our "common European home" is becoming a reality, by small and often labourious steps.

But there are also dangers concealed in this process of integration. The expansion of the European social system is not keeping pace with the economic development of the continent into a single market. The churches are raising their voices again and again on behalf of people who live in abject poverty in the midst of wealthy Europe. They are also keeping in mind the people in European countries who live outside the European Union and will not be taken into this community of prosperous states in the near future. The churches are warning that there is the danger of a new boundary being drawn across Europe, between the member states of the European Union and the economically poor countries in eastern Europe, which are not being admitted because of their problems, and are therefore at risk of falling even further behind.

The churches in Europe can demonstrate how a community can develop across all political, social and cultural boundaries, held together by a common faith and a common commitment to a socially conscious Europe. The ecumenical meetings in Strasbourg and Belfast, reports of which appear in this issue, are examples for this. Here it is also made clear that the churches stand for a Europe which is open to people of different faiths and does not seal itself off from the rest of the world. Europe has no future as a fortress, but rather as a continent which makes its contribution to the knitting together of the human community, and does not try to eliminate the diversity of cultures, but rather appreciates its riches. To contribute to the building of such a Europe is the task of all the churches together.