Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
St Petersburg (Agenzia Fides) - For the first time in history the Presidents of the Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Europe will meet in St Petersburg, Russia, from 4th to 8th October, following an invitation by Bishop Joseph Werth, President of the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Bishops of the Russian federation. The meeting represents a sign of esteem and communion for the country and for all the Christians who live here. During the plenary Assembly, the presidents of the 34 bishops' Conferences of Europe, all members of CCEE, will proceed to elect the new Presidency for the five-year mandate 2006-2011.
All Presidents of the Bishops' Conferences currently in office are eligible for election as President or one of the two Vice-Presidents. At the same time the new Bishop Presidents of the CCEE Commissions will also be elected (European Bishops' Media Commission [CEEM]; Commission for the pastoral care of Migration; “Catechesis, school and university” Commission; European Vocations Service Commission).The main reflection theme of the plenary assembly will be the service of CCEE which is 35 years old in 2006. The bishops will identify guidelines for future CCEE actions and for evangelisation.
At the beginning of the proceedings, the bishops will have the opportunity to hear about the situation of religion and the Church in Russia from a representative of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow and the Catholic Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of the diocese of Mother of God in Moscow. The second part of the working session will instead focus on themes discussed recently by the Bishops’ Conferences: pastoral care for vocations in Europe and the role of priests; matrimony and the family; the Church in Europe and the situation in the world in general. The relationship between the Churches and the European Union and the future of the European process of unification; all these will be topics of discussion.
The debate on the current ecumenical scenario and the forthcoming Third European Ecumenical Assembly (EEA3) will be introduced by the Archbishop Stanislav Hocevar of Belgrade. The Conference Presidents will be informed in detail about the programme of the Sibiu Assembly (4th to 9th September 2007), which represents the final stage of the European pilgrimage undertaken by the Christian Churches of Europe and started in Rome at the 24th to 27th January 2006 meeting.
The plenary will close with a Eucharistic celebration with the parish community in the Church of St Catherine on Sunday 8th October 2006.. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 21/9/2006, righe 26, parole 322)
