PRESS RELEASE No. 5

Metropolitan Daniel: living the presence of the Holy Trinity in the Church

Strasbourg, 20 april 2001 - "Jesus Christ - image of the invisible God made manifest in the Holy Spirit": was the theme of the address given this morning at the European Ecumenical Encounter by Metropolitan Daniel Cibotea of Iasi (Romania), a member of the Central Committee and the Presidium of the Conference of European Churches (CEC). Metropolitan Daniel's speech was a contribution to the reflection on the personal and community experience of God, which began earlier this morning with a meditation on the Gospel story of the disciples walking to Emmaus (Luke 24), by Finn Wagle, Bishop of Nidaros (Trondheim), Norway.

Metropolitan Daniel expanded the Trinitarian dimension of God's presence in creation, in the human being and in the Church. The risen Lord has ascended to heaven not to abandon us, but on the contrary to walk with us and dwell in us. "The Risen One is a pilgrim with us", he said, "often without our knowing... The Spirit of the risen Christ helps us to see the invisible", to live in peace and unity with each other; to see creation "not as something to plunder but as a gift, a eucharist to share"; to see "an icon of Christ in the face of every human being". "It is in the light of Easter and the power of Pentecost" he added "that the Churches of Europe must today confess Christ crucified, resurrected and glorified: the victory of holiness over sin, the victory of love over hatred, of peace over violence, of justice over injustice, of light over darkness, so that the world may receive joy in the Kingdom of God".

Addressing the subject of Christian unity, at a press conference immediately after his speech - together with Cardinal Karl Lehmann (Germany) and Lutheran pastor Elfriede Dörr (Romania) - Metropolitan Daniel said that no model of Christian unity must become an absolute. "Jesus Christ did not leave us a human model of unity", he said, "but a divine one: 'be one as I and the Father are one'. The Holy Spirit inspires us to create new models of unity according to Christ's will, and helps us to see Christ's face in the face of the other - also in the face of the other churches. Let everyone love Christ, his neighbour and the other churches, and the right model of unity will come". The Orthodox leader also stressed the fact that the signing of the Charta Oecumenica - which will take place on Sunday morning - will not mark the end but rather the beginning of a new process of reception and - above all - practical implementation. Cardinal Lehmann too underlined the need to launch a wide process of reception, and affirmed that the text should possibly be revised in a few years in the light of experience. The Rev. Elfriede Dörr expressed the hope that the younger generation would continue to be involved in this process of reception and implementation, as is happening in Strasbourg.