We live in a continent which is much more inclined to division than to reconciliation.

In 1989 our television screens showed us the forceful images of the breaking down of the Berlin wall. Europe went into euphoria. Communist regimes tumbled - some violently, some peacefully.
Communism was out - aggressive capitalism was in.

As the freedoms blossomed the people there began to realize that all that they had been brought up to believe in had turned into a lie. Their countries were practically bankrupt, certainly not thriving, their infrastructure was crumbling and old fashioned not the latest technological advance.

Young church people from central and eastern Europe, in a meeting in Geneva soon after the changes, were asked what good thing they would like to hang on to from their old regime? They were enjoying their first visit to the West, they were revelling intheir new-found freedoms. They replied unanimously - nothing, nothing at all, it was all evil.

This euphoria did not last. As their standard of living declined, as they saw the running down or ending of their health service, their social security, the education system, their guaranteed work, their subsidized housing, their cheap and sufficient food - somehow, all this disappeared and they began to wonder if they were not so bad off after all under the communists.

No one wanted or indeed wants the oppressive regimes back. No one wants to see the gulags revived. But freedom is relative. What is freedom without work, without food, with the mafia taking over, with violence breaking out, with drugs making inroads, with young people being lured into prostitution in the west?

Six years later we find reformed and not so reformed communist governments in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania, Georgia, Serbia, and many of the Euro-Asiatic Republics and, of course, in Italy.

Or take another look at the face of Europe from the Western side. Martin Woolacott writing in the Guardian Weekly in March asked "Are its features best glimpsed in Brussels, where Jacques Santer and his commissioners prepare their plans...or are they better grasped in the silent shipyards of Bremerhaven, in the angry fishing villages of Brittany and Cornwall, in the empty aircraft hangers of Fokker aircraft, in the missile factories of central France, in the workshops of Short Brothers in Belfast, or in the stricken beef pasture lands of Britain?"

He goes on: "This is not only a Europe whose nations lack sympathy with each other but one where they seize advantage from the misfortunes of their neighbours".

In other words it is a continent which desperately needs reconciliation.

What has happened?

James Baker, former US Secretary of State has written that: "The post Cold War era, though young, has been marked by a distinct and alarming trend towards increased violence". In Europe, since the breakdown of the old Eastern block states we have had more violence than for 50 years, since the end of WW2. Yugoslavia, (now broken-up into Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia) Moldova, Chechnya, Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabach, Georgia and the separatist cause. In the western part of our continent the Basque separatists keep up their terror campaign, the Corsican independence movement is alive and bombing, the Northern Ireland situation creeps on year after year with no real solution in sight.

Since the breakdown of the old Eastern block we have seen an unprecedented rise in nationalism, racism, xenophobia, which has installed strongly nationalist governments in the Slovak Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine and a high proportion of voters for the nationalist and communist causes in Russia. In the west - the northern league in Italy wants to separate from the rest of the country, right wing politicians such as M Le Pen in France garner more and more votes, and even in peaceful Switzerland the language issue is turning into a cause of division, frustration and threats of secession. People are marginalized from power. Minorities struggle against majorities. Ethnic tensions are everywhere present. Communism, for all its failures, saw itself as an international movement with universalist claims. Now, with its demise, as James Baker has put it, "the demands of sectarian groups throughout the former communist bloc have risen, often violently to the fore".

There are more refugees and displaced people now on our continent than there have been since the end of WW2.

We live in a divided continent.

How about the churches? How have they reacted to these momentous changes?

Under Communist rule the churches in the East suffered to varying degrees - some severely, but all were restricted in their activities. They welcomed the fall of the old regimes, they rejoiced in their new freedoms. They began to fight! - sometimes even physically - among themselves. Churches which had been absorbed, sometimes forcibly, into larger churches were given back their freedoms and demanded back their buildings. Most leadership changed - the old guard being charged with collaboration with the former regimes. Church unity, ecumenical activity, contacts with the rest of the continent and the world were regarded as dirty, tainted, evil. There was a rush to the apparent safety and purity of the denominational structures.

More positively, churches found themselves with increased numbers as more people began to attend church. Moreover, they found themselves as being the one continuing feature of a society where everything else had fallen apart. Unfortunately, in so many instances they were not able to meet all the demands put upon them. Increased attendance now begins to look more and more like a passing phenomenon - it was the thing, immediately after the changes, to be seen in church.

In the West, for most churches, it was business as usual. All churches welcomed the changes but most were not prepared or able to respond in the way that the situation demanded. Others took the view, oh, how good to see those people are able to go to church at last. Even though we are losing membership, isn't it nice to see others going to church. Still another part of the Christian church had eyes only for numerical gains. We must evangelize them! These poor people have never heard the message of the Gospel. Let's go in while there is this window of opportunity - kairos - God's moment of opportunity. And so began the invasion of fundamentalist Christianity, sects, and big money.

The churches at the receiving end of this invasion split even further.

We live in a divided continent. We are a divided body. Christ's body is broken.

The social condition

When we look at the social situation in our continent the picture is no better. Unemployment, the running down of the social welfare systems, urban deprivation, rural run down, pollution, environmental disasters and near disasters, violence and urban and international terrorism - you name it this continent has it.

What then is our message?

Into this gloomy situation the message of the Christian Church, the message from the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians comes like a shaft of light, a tremendous challenge, a noble cause, a lifetime's calling. We are called to be reconcilers. We are called to a ministry of reconciliation not to causing divisions. We are to be ministers of reconciliation. Let me quote James Baker again: "It is vital to recognize ... that reconciliation is an ongoing process more than a solitary act. It is a dialogue that demands not only goodwill, but an institutional framework, to maintain its momentum.

The European Ecumenical Assemblies

Back in 1987 there was a feeling around that things were changing in Europe. It was not definable but perestroika and glasnost were words that were entering into our everyday language. The 9th Assembly of CEC in Stirling, Scotland, called for a Europe-wide assembly to be held in partnership with the Roman Catholic Church. It charged its new General Secretary with organizing it. In May, 1989, this came to fruition in Basel, Switzerland. It was the first such gathering to include all the different denominations of Europe. The first time that all Christians had met together since the Middle Ages. The theme was "Peace with Justice".

Basel is now a fond memory but its message, contained in a Final Document still lives on. Indeed the opening paragraph of that document set the tone: "We are aware of deadly threats which humanity is facing today. But God is a God of life who will not abandon the work of his hands. Rather, God calls us to abandon the ways of injustice, violence and exploitation. God's call for conversion is the door to life."

Soon after this Assembly the wall came down. It is widely recognized that the impact of the Assembly, particularly in the then German Democratic Republic (East Germany) helped with the defeat of the Communist regime and the reunification of Germany.

The Basel Assembly called for a further such assembly within five years. This proved impossible. All that happened did not make it conducive to hold such a meeting. But the vision was still kept alight. About two years ago serious discussion began again between the CEC and the CCEE about a follow-up conference and last year, in a meeting in Assisi, Italy, the invitation was issued to hold the second European Ecumenical Assembly in Graz, Austria, in June 1997. The theme was carefully chosen to fit the mood, the need and the actions which are felt necessary in Europe today. "Reconciliation, gift of God and Source of New Life". Graz is intended to be a decisive step in a process which promotes reconciliation between churches and peoples in Europe and contributes to European integration. It is not intended as a single event but meant to form a process linking it to church life before and afterwards.

To analyze that theme would take too long. But the theological underpinning of it is clear. Work on the deeper theological implications for Christians in Europe to this theme is going on and a draft of what this might imply for European Christians is now available.

The main theme will have six themes which as you will see cover the whole of life.

Under the overall theme the participants in the Graz assembly will be able to choose between listening and participating in dialogue on six sub-themes:

• the search for visible unity between the churches
  There is a feeling that the old vision of a one structure church has gone and the new look is for unity in diversity. How can that be worked out?

• establishing a dialogue with churches and cultures
  Many churches remain outside the main ecumenical dialogue and new efforts are being made to dialogue with them - the Pentecostal churches are one example. Apart from the churches the New Age Movement is seen by an increasing number of people as a culture for the 21st century. And what of other religions? The Islamic revival is now affecting our continent, in Bosnia, for example and many are finding the teachings of the Buddha meet their needs and yet others see in Hinduism the syncretistic element which answers all religious problems.

• commitment to social justice, above all, overcoming poverty, social exclusion and other forms of discrimination
  Social justice has always been a high concern for the churches - in spite of notable advances there is still the need for churches to act in so many areas. Women in the church, the single person in a church culture which promotes the family. Homosexuality. Racial and ethnic discrimination.

• commitment to reconciliation in and between nations, above all commitment to non-violent forms of conflict management
  The churches have been at the forefront in international circles in trying to bring about reconciliation in the post-WW2 world. There have been some notable successes - Sudan, in the 70s (Leopoldo Niilus awarded the Great Elephant medal); North and South Korea where the churches are at the forefront of trying to bring about the ending of the divide. Former Yugoslavia - where the commitment to reconciliation between churches and peoples has been very active. The initiation of a whole programme on developing a culture of non-violence.

• engendering a greater sense of responsibility for the environment. Above all with regard to the coming generations
  The churches have come late into the environment field but are now very active. There is a network of European church environment workers keeping in touch with what is happening in this continent and drawing attention to some of the problems. The WCC has launched a campaign on climate control and was given the distinction of being the only NGO allowed to address a governmental UN meeting.

• achieving a balanced relationship with other world regions
  In our concern for our own continent we must not forget that we are part of the one world created by God. The two-thirds world must not be lost in our concern for our own continent. We live on one small, blue planet. We are the apex of God's creation and yet we let so many starve, suffer, kill and be killed with hardly the blinking of our corporate responsibility eye.

The suffering in former Yugoslavia has preoccupied us for the last few years and has filled our television screens, newspapers and radio air waves. The stories of ethnic cleansing, rape, mass murder, the search for revenge, yes and justice perhaps, through the war crimes tribunal - we all have our opinions, views, and have voiced them forcefully.

Many of you here on this island still have memories of similar happenings 50 and more years ago.

But all stories are not of horror.

Two Serbian brothers, forced to flee their family home in the Krajina, left their carefully cleaned and tidied room, their belongings and a letter welcoming the refugees who would soon take their place.

The first step in the long road to reconciliation - a gift of God and Source of New Life.

Prayer:

You broke down the barriers - when you crept in beside us.
For in Jesus... the smiling Jesus,
          The story-telling Jesus,
          The controversial Jesus
          The annoying Jesus
          The loving and forgiving Jesus,
Your hands touched all, and touched us,
Showing how in Christ there is
          neither Jew nor Gentile,
          neither male nor female:

ALL ARE ONE IN JESUS CHRIST,
AND FOR THIS WE PRAISE YOU.

You opened our eyes - to see how the hands of the rich were empty
And the hearts of the poor were full.
You dared to take the widow's mite,
          the child's loaves,
          the babe at the breast,
And in these simple things
To point out the path to your Kingdom.
You said  Follow me',
For on our own we could never discover
That in Christ there is
          neither Jew nor Gentile,
          neither male nor female:
ALL ARE ONE IN JESUS CHRIST,
AND FOR THIS WE PRAISE YOU.

You gave us hands to hold;
Black hands and white hands,
African hands and Asian hands,
The clasping hands of lovers,
And the reluctant hands of those
Who don't believe they are worth holding.
And when we wanted to shake our fist,
You still wanted to hold our hand,
Because in Christ there is
          neither Jew nor Gentile,
          neither male nor female:
ALL ARE ONE IN JESUS CHRIST,
AND FOR THIS WE PRAISE YOU.

Here in the company of the neighbour whom we know
     and the stranger in our midst,
     and the self from whom we turn,
We ask to love as Jesus loved.
Make this the place and time, Good Lord,
When heaven and earth merge into one,
And we in word and flesh can grasp
That in Christ there is
          neither Jew nor Gentile,
          neither male nor female:
ALL ARE ONE IN JESUS CHRIST,
AND FOR THIS WE PRAISE YOU.
Amen

Peace be with you visitor no: