RELIGION AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY:
CHALLENGES FOR THE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES IN EUROPE
MINSK, BELARUS, 2-6 JUNE 2014
Message of the
IV Catholic-Orthodox European Forum
Minsk, Belarus, 2 to 6 June 2014
The IV Catholic-Orthodox Forum on Religion and Cultural Diversity: Challenges for the
Christian Churches in Europe was held in Minsk, Belarus, from 2 to 6 June 2014. The Forum was
organized with the support of the Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church under
the co-chairmanship of the Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
and Cardinal Peter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, President of the Council of the
Bishops' Conferences of Europe. Following the positive experiences of the first three gatherings of
the Catholic-Orthodox European Forum (Trent, Italy, 11 to 14 December 2008, Rhodes, Greece,
18 to 22 October 2010 and Lisbon, Portugal, 5 to 8 June 2012) participants from the Catholic and
the Orthodox Churches in Europe discussed the challenges which face European Christianity in
an increasingly polarized cultural environment.
The forum participants express their gratitude to the Belarusian Exarchate of Russian Orthodox
Church and the Catholic Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev, to the Belarusian State and local
authorities for the hospitality and excellent level of organization.
After presentations, discussion and due consideration, the Forum adopted the following message.
1. The theme, “Religion and cultural diversity: challenges for the Christian Churches
in Europe", was chosen in response to a request coming from our communities who
feel strongly challenged by the on going cultural and moral shifts in Europe. Over
the last twenty years, globalization on the world scale and secularization in
European legislation on moral issues have raised questions that call for common
answers. Our concern is growing also because we see that the process of
estrangement between Europe and its Christian roots seems to be speeding up.
2. Our message wants to be first of all a sign of joy and hope for all those engaged in
the mission of the Church. We share the life conditions of all Europeans in this
economic and cultural crisis, and we know that many are suffering and are in
search of a word that gives sense to their life. Indeed where Christian faith and
morality have been dismissed, a feeling of emptiness leads many to despair and
nihilism. The Church offers consistent values by incorporating humanity in Christ,
the source of all true values. Thus, the Church calls the world to be transformed by
prayer, worship and Christian witness.
3. We share with Europeans of today our conviction that Christian faith is the
primary source for European culture and morality. Centuries of history witness
both in the East and the West the extraordinary richness of cultural achievements
in our continent through the contribution of Christian faith. Indeed faith has
begotten culture and culture has been constantly challenged by faith. We pay
tribute to the Christian heritage of Europe that shaped our worldview and gave
moral principles to the peoples of Europe.
4. In their diversity European cultures have all drawn from common Christian
roots. As in other cultural contexts, we must recognize that a considerable part of
human cultures relies on religious inspiration. Christian anthropology has deeply
impacted on European culture. Recognising God as Creator does not annihilate
human reason but rather brings it closer to the Truth. Christianity never opposes
reason and faith. God is the eternal Reason that creates all that exists. In revealing
Himself he has not eliminated but rather has affirmed human intelligence. The
highest contribution of Christianity to human history is precisely the alliance
between faith and reason that produced the vision of the dignity of each human
person, the need for freedom and solidarity, and openness to the mystery of our
existence.
5. We stress that Christian faith guarantees rather than takes from our quest for
freedom and happiness. Christian faith means total acceptance of Jesus-Christ
present in his Church through the Holy Spirit. “For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only Son” (John 3:16). Therefore, Christ is not a product of human cultures.
As God incarnate, He challenges human history and human cultures. Our Christian
Churches bear witness to the coming of Christ as an event in the cultures of our
peoples. Faith in Christ does not abolish human diversity. It enriches and promotes
the elements of truth and goodness already present in human cultures.
6. Our Christian Churches of the East and the West do not fear cultural diversity.
Since its foundation, the Church was culturally pluralistic. There were different
cultural approaches among the disciples of Christ, for instance between those who
spoke Aramaic and those who spoke Greek. “There are diversities of gifts, but the
same Spirit” (1Co 12:4). Christianity proclaims Christ’s Gospel in the variety of
human cultures.
7. Religious freedom is an essential element of Christian faith. For us religious
freedom means the freedom to search for and adhere to the truth. It is based not on
the subjective attitude of an individual or a group, but on the transcendent dignity
of each human person made for the Absolute, for Truth and for God. Legislation that
promote religious indifference, relativism or syncretism even in terms of tolerance
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tends to reduce to the private sphere a right that is fundamental to the person’s
dignity. Fostering religious freedom means for Christian Churches entering into
ecumenical dialogue without proselytism nor fundamentalism nor moral
permissiveness.
8. The contemporary gap between Christianity and main stream mentality has
serious consequences for the future of Europe’s institutions and life. Today for
many Europeans there are no longer stable reference points to shape their moral
conduct and appreciate what is right and what is wrong, as they live under the will
of the "sovereign autonomous Self". Individualism leads to moral relativism. There
is no consideration for an objective truth nor a common good. The gap between the
Churches’ view of morality and the main postmodern trends lies in this: we are
convinced that moral principles are inscribed by the Creator in the heart of all
human beings, while in a postmodern context, morality is what one individually
decides. We call on Europeans to recognize that the key to freedom is to accept that
we receive ourselves from God, not that we can dispose arbitrarily of everything as
if we were our own creators.
There is no opposition between Gospel principles and human values. Christianity
means that all that is good and true in humanity is enveloped by the grace of Christ
our Saviour. God humbled himself to our humanity not in order to cancel its
potentialities, but to heal what was ill and bring our humanity to its perfection.
9. Faith and morality go together; culture and morality as well. We do not forget
that the huge progress accomplished in European history in matters of human
rights and protection of the weakest come from those principles that Christianity
has brought to Europe. As pastors we want to continue to bring the best of our
moral teaching to our people and as citizens to present it to our Governments and
to the European Institutions. We are convinced that Christian communities are able
to act as witnesses of what is good for all as they draw their inspiration from the
Gospel of Christ.
In Christ, we find our inspiring source that renews us and brings us to a greater
sense of responsibility in Europe and in the world today.
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