ROME, JAN. 11, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI plans to preside over the vespers that will help mark the start of the 3rd European Ecumenical Assembly.
The vespers on Jan. 24, in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, will be for the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. Jan. 25 marks the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.<br>
Some 150 delegates of churches, bishops’ conferences, Christian communities and ecumenical movements will take part in the launching of the Ecumenical Assembly. The events of this stage of the assembly will run Jan. 24-27 and include conferences.
Thus will begin a process convoked by the Conference of European Churches, a non-Catholic group, and the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, a Catholic group.
The initiative continues the tradition of the European Ecumenical Assemblies held in Switzerland in 1989 and in Austria in 1997. This time, there is not just one event, but a process in four stages.
The second stage will include a series of ecumenical meetings at the national or regional level throughout Europe, in the second half of 2006 or the start of 2007.
Wittenberg, Germany, will be the venue for the third stage, from Feb. 15-18, 2007, in which the 150 delegates mentioned will come together.
Finally, the assembly itself, attended by some 3,000 delegates, will be held in Sibiu, Romania, from Sept. 4-8, 2007. Meetings will be organized at the same time, where possible, in other European cities.
