POST-SYNOD COUNCIL FOR EUROPE MEETS IN ROME

VATICAN CITY, MAR 18, 2005 (VIS) - Made public today was a communique from the Synod of Bishops on the March 7, 2005, meeting in Rome of the council of the General  Secretariat for the Second Special Assembly for Europe under the presidency of Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary general. This was the fifth such post-synod meeting.

  The meeting included a report on the secretariat's activity since the fourth post-synodal meeting, a summary of the results of the consultation on the application of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Europa" and a discussion on the Christian roots and spiritual vocation of Europe according to the doctrine laid out in the exhortation.

  The debate on the post-synodal exhortation underscored the fact that several European episcopal conferences have used this document in planning pastoral programs and ministries, often using single chapters as a plan for single years of pastoral activities. The document has been the focus of congresses, conferences, studies, books and articles.

  Participants also discussed Pope John Paul's Book, "Memory and Identity," with special focus on the passages where he speaks about the "convincing theme of the Christian roots of Europe" where the Pope talks of the baptism of the inhabitants of his native Poland in 966, how Christianity spread to central European countries and how, "in a like fashion, Christianity contributed in a decisive way to the formation of countries in western Europe. Notwithstanding the omission in the Constitutional Treaty of the European Union, the idea of Christian roots in Europe has been imposed on public opinion, gathering great consensus among Christians, Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants."

  The communique noted how "ecumenical relations are making progress but the efforts of the Catholic Church do not always find fruit, nor are they corresponded to in the diverse Churches. Following the Holy Father's example, Catholics continue to pray and to work in the ecumenical spirit."
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