15 December 2022
As part of the strategic framework of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), its Governing Board approved a plan titled “Pathways to Peace” to promote justice, reconciliation and peace, especially in the context of war in Ukraine. The plan will strengthen CEC’s role as a church-fellowship, engaging in dialogue with European institutions, raising a Christian voice to address crucial political concerns.
The CEC Governing Board which met in Tallinn in November, discussed in depth the political situation in Europe. Their deliberations led to highlight CEC’s significant role in reflecting theologically on its nature and purpose, and taking advantage of being situated at the heart of European decision making.
“Pathways to Peace” is deeply rooted in the legacy of CEC, aiming for European unity through work in the area of justice, reconciliation and peace. The plan resonates with the original role and purpose of CEC, continued beyond the fall of the Berlin Wall into the 1990s, and now reinvigorated in the 2020s.
“The breakout of the war in Ukraine has revealed how fragile is peace,” said CEC President Rev. Christian Krieger. “A war in the heart of Europe, highlights anew the necessity of conflict prevention, peacebuilding and peace education. It also manifests the role of religion in this particular conflict and the need for churches to exercise their mediating and diplomatic skills,” he added.
“Peace is our Christian vocation,” said CEC General Secretary Dr Jørgen Skov Sørensen. “In an increasingly complex and wounded world, churches and individual Christians have come to recognise, along with other communities of living faiths and people of no faith, that working for peace constitutes a primary expression of our common responsibility for the world.”
Through this initiative, CEC will offer a platform for exchange and cooperation among Member Churches. CEC aims to focus on advocacy on a European political level highlighting human rights and strengthening participation of European youth. The 2023 CEC General Assembly that will bring together CEC Member Churches in Tallinn, will also reflect this programmatic initiative.
CEC Member Churches are invited to engage with “Pathways to Peace” sharing how to cooperate, support and accomplish objectives of the plan. For more information please contact cec@cec-kek.be.
CEC is a fellowship of 113 Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic churches from across Europe, plus more than 40 National Council of Churches and Organisations in Partnership. CEC was founded in 1959, following the Second World War, to work for healing and peace. Together with its ecumenical partners, CEC represents over 380 million European citizens. CEC office is based in Brussels.
