April 20, 2005

The General Secretary of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), the Rev. Dr. Keith Clements, has issued the following statement on the election of the new Pope:

The Conference of European Churches greets the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church with heartfelt prayers for the blessings of God's strength, guidance and wisdom upon his pontificate. The cardinals who have elected him have chosen a person of forceful personality and intellectual ability to lead their Church into a future which poses many challenges within that Church, in relations with the other Christian Churches and in the world at large.

As Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI has long been known to ecumenical circles, in Europe and beyond, as a strong proponent of the traditional Roman Catholic self-understanding of his Church and the view that the search for unity must be grounded on conviction of the truth. The Conference of European Churches comprises Churches – Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and Old Catholic – which are no less committed to the centrality of Jesus Christ and the Gospel as enshrined in Holy Scripture and the Ecumenical Creeds. Equally they believe that the way into deeper apprehension of the truth lies in dialogue that is honest, humbly respectful of the positions and insights of others, and open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit who, as promised by our Lord himself, will lead us into all truth. As the Charta Oecumenica states, "There is no alternative to dialogue." We therefore look for a further stage of the ecumenical journey and in the coming days will welcome every sign and assurance from the Roman Catholic Church that we can walk together on that road.

At this historic moment, we in the CEC particularly greet our partners in the Council of Bishops' Conferences in Europe (CCEE) with our assurances of love and prayers as we journey further together towards the 3rd European Ecumenical Assembly to take place in Sibiu, Romania, in 2007 under the theme "The Light of Christ Shines Upon All – Hope for Renewal and Unity in Europe." With that goal in mind our prayer for Pope Benedict XVI, for all our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters and for ourselves in the Conference of European Churches, is that there may be fulfilled in us the most profound test of truth, integrity and faithfulness, found in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Conference of European Churches
The Conference of European Churches (CEC) is a fellowship of some 125 Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches from all countries of Europe, plus 40 associated organisations. CEC was founded in 1959. It has offices in Geneva, Brussels and Strasbourg.