Istanbul, Turkey, the European Capital of Culture 2010, will host the annual meeting of the Joint Committee of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (CCEE), which will be held from March 7th to 11th, following an invitation by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.During the meeting there will be a overview of the activities, experiences and projects of Churches and Episcopal Conferences in the field of migration and on topical issues in the EU institutions.Father Duarte da Cunha: “Besides the theme of migration, the meeting will be an opportunity to reflect on other common issues that interest the CCEE, the CEC, the Catholic Church and the other confessions. It will be an occasion to visit Patriarch Bartholomew, and to strengthen the true friendship between the leaders of this institution. For this reason, we hope that it will be a step forward in the ecumenical movement.”The task of the Joint Committee, which was set up in 1972, is to oversee the cooperation between the CEC -- a communion of 120 Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches of all European Countries, along with 40 associated organizations -- and the CCEE, which gathers the Presidents of the current 33 European Bishops’ Conferences of this continent.

Istanbul, Turkey, the European Capital of Culture 2010, will host the annual meeting of the Joint Committee of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the Council of Bishops’ Conferences of...leggi tutto