POPE SENDS GREETINGS TO EUROPEAN ECUMENICAL MEETING

VATICAN CITY, APR 20, 2001 (VIS) - Made public early this afternoon was a Letter from Pope John Paul to Cardinal Miroslav Vlk, archbishop of Prague and outgoing president of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe, on the occasion of the European Ecumenical Meeting in Strasbourg, France, which began yesterday and ends April 22.

In the Letter, written in French and dated April 13, the Pope states that "this meeting, jointly organized by the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe and the Council of Churches of Europe, is the happy fruit of an intense collaboration among diverse ecclesial organisms of the European continent."

The Holy Father goes on to note that the words of Jesus - "'I am with you always, to the close of the age' - which have accompanied the Church of Christ for two millennia, are also the theme of the ecumenical meeting in Strasbourg."

He points out that "the unity for which the Lord prayed in the Cenacle is a condition for the credibility of the Christian witness. Today, more than ever, we must bring our reflection to bear on this profound relation which plays a decisive role for the impact which the Christian message can have in the world. A clear proclamation of the Gospel is especially urgent in Europe. Woven with different cultures, traditions and values linked to the countries which make it up, Europe can be neither understood nor built without taking into account the roots which are its original identity; not can it build itself in rejecting the Christian spirituality which permeates it."

John Paul II closes by sending his "very best wishes" to all those participating in the Strasbourg encounter.

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