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Meeting of Secretaries of Episcopal Conferences of Europe to be Held in Lviv in 2009
09-07-2008
08.07.2008 - «Annually, in order to conduct the annual meeting and to discuss its main theme there is a meeting of the secretaries of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe (ECE). They are conducted in some other country, which gives the opportunity to present to the participants of the meeting the realities of a certain local Church. During the conduct of the meeting in a certain country the secretaries of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe visit parishes and become acquainted with the life of a local Church.» So said Bishop Bohdan (Dziurakh), Secretary of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, explaining the reasons for conducting the next meeting of the secretaries of the ECE in Lviv. According to the words of Bishop Bohdan, the meeting which will take place next year will give the opportunity to present the life of our Church and our answers to those problems which are experienced by modern Europe in general and our country in particular. In addition, our guests will have the opportunity to become better acquainted with Ukraine. «Such an invitation was a natural fruit of our membership in the Council of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe, in Latin, Consilium Conferentiarum Episcoporum Europae (CCEE),» explained the Secretary of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC.
This year's meeting of the General Secretaries of the Episcopal Conferences of the European continent took place in the Spanish city of Covadonga on June 26-30, 2008. Among 27 participants of the meeting Ukraine was represented by the Roman Catholic and Greek-Catholic Churches. The UGCC was represented by Bishop Bohdan.
The main theme of the discussion was the religious situation in Europe, which was examined from the side of secularization and the search for meaning and spirituality. The considerable influence of migration, which creates an original «market» of religions and spiritual truths, was underlined. Thus especially noted was the phenomenon of the so-called «privatization of convictions,» which means the adaptation of truths of the faith to one's own moral and emotional measurements. It indicated also that terrorism related to religious extremism creates a negative attitude to religion, reports the Ukrainian service of Radio Vatican.
The participants of the meeting expressed special gratitude to the former General Secretary of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe, Mons. Aldo Giordano, who was appointed the Observer of the Apostolic See at the Council of Europe.
The conclusion of the meeting marked the role of the Catholic Church in the process of peace and stability in Europe, uniting the European continent around the Christian values which formed modern Europe, and also assisting in the solving of important moral and ethical problems of modern society.
