Press Release
Congress of the Catholic Laity in Eastern Europe

The first Congress of Catholic Laity in Eastern Europe, organised by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, will be held in Kiev, Ukraine, from 8 to 12 October next. Approximately 300 people will attend. In addition to delegations of the lay faithful from 14 countries of the Ex- Soviet Union led by their Pastors, there will be members of associations and ecclesial movements that work in that geographic area, representatives of Catholic organisations that collaborate with the Church in Eastern Europe, and some of the members and consultors of our Dicastery. With the agreement of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, observers have been invited from other Churches and ecclesial communities.

The Kiev Congress comes within the framework of regional and continental congresses of the laity planned and organised by our Dicastery in Asia, Oceania, Central America, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Their purpose is to contribute to the reawakening of the faithful to an awareness of their identity as Christians and of their specific mission in the world. The legacy of decades of atheistic propaganda in the countries of Eastern Europe means that the Church is now faced with an enormous task of education and religious instruction. The challenges in the area of Christian life that must be met by the Churches of these countries are as great as the challenges in social and political life presented by the creation and consolidation of democratic structures and by the launching of a market economy. Deprived of freedom of action, or even of the right to exist, these oppressed and heroic Churches have persevered in their adhesion to Christ, in their fidelity to the Successor of Peter, and in their affirmation of the value of freedom in the midst of suffering and often at the cost of blood. In these countries today - at least in principle - religious freedom has returned and the Church is being revived in its structures, in community life and in mission. New dioceses and parishes are being created, community networks are being established, and new places of worship are being built. The hope that animates this rebirth is a very credible testimony for Christians everywhere.

In the work of reconstruction of their Churches and of their countries, it is most important that the lay faithful reinforce their awareness of the vocation that they receive in Baptism and of the duty of all the baptised to bring the Church of Christ to the world. The main objective of the Kiev Congress is precisely to stimulate them to rediscover their own identity and to encourage them to undertake this process, under the guidance of their pastors, by means of systematic study and assimilation of the teachings of the Church and above all of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council concerning the christifideles laity. In this context, particular emphasis will be placed on the indispensable participation of the lay faithful in the life of the parish community, on the importance for the mission of the Church of the various groupings of laity, and on the criteria for the right participation of the laity in the Church and the world.

The Congress sessions will open in the afternoon of Wednesday 8 October with an introduction by Cardinal James Francis Stafford and with words of greeting by Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, Major Archbishop of Lviv of the Ukrainians, and Cardinal Marian Jaworski, Archbishop of Lviv of the Latins. This will be followed by the presentation of the delegations from the participating countries: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The discussions, witnessing and working groups on Thursday 9 October will complement two keynote addresses that will launch the work of the Congress: “The mission of the Church at the dawn of the third millennium” that will be given by the Archbishop of Prague, Cardinal Miloslav Vlk; “You will be my witnesses: the hour of the laity” to be given by Bishop Stanis?aw Ry?ko, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity. In the afternoon, delegates from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Lithuania and Kazakhstan will animate the round table on the theme “From persecution to freedom: to be Christians in our times”.

The programme on Friday 10 October also includes discussion and witnessing after the scheduled addresses: “Lay participation in the community life of the parish: liturgy and sacraments, proclaiming the Gospel, witnesses of charity” to be given by Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Moscow, and “Education in the faith: the contribution of lay associations and movements to the mission of the Church” to be given by Prof. Guzmán Carriquiry, Undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity. The round table in the afternoon will be centred on the theme “The lay apostolate: priorities and commitment”, and it will deal with the various fields in which the lay faithful are called to take the path to holiness with a mode of presence worthy of Christ’s disciples: in the family, Christian community, school and university, culture, work, public life.

The two addresses scheduled for Saturday 11 October will be, “The blood of the martyrs, seed of new life: the martyrs of yesterday call on the Christians of today” to be given by Cardinal Kazimierz ?wi?tek, Archbishop of Minsk-Mohilev, and then “Ut unum sint: gift and challenge of unity”, by Rev. Josef Maj, S.J. of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. They will be followed by witnessing and discussion. The afternoon round table will be on the theme “Young people, hope for the Church and for nations”, and it will deal with the situation of youth in post-communist countries, youth at school, university and work, youth ministry and World Youth Day.

The Congress will be conducted in an atmosphere of prayer, and it will be marked by daily Eucharistic celebrations in the Greek-Catholic and Latin rites, presided in turn by Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, Cardinal Marian Jaworski and Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz. A particularly significant event will be the liturgical Memory of Martyrs in the evening of Saturday 11 presided by Cardinal Lubomyr Husar. On Sunday morning, 12 October, the concluding Eucharistic celebration of the Congress will be presided by Cardinal James Francis Stafford. At the end of the Mass, all the delegates will receive a copy of the Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles laici, an essential point of reference for Catholic laity.