The launch of the Third European Ecumenical Assembly (EEA3) will see 150 delegates from across Europe’s churches, Bishop’s Conferences, ecumenical bodies, communities and movements gather in Rome at the end of the month.

|TOP|The theme of the Assembly, organised by the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC), will be ‘The light of Christ shines upon all. Hope for renewal and unity in Europe’.

The European Ecumenical Assembly is unique in that it is not simply a one-off event but a long-term process.

The EEA3, which is spread over four stages, aims to be a “type of symbolic pilgrimage encountering the richness of different Christian traditions and rediscovering Europe’s Christian roots,” said a press release.

The first and third stages will take place in Rome from the 24 to 27 January 2006 and Lutherstadt, Germany, from the 15 to 18 February 2007, respectively, bringing together 150 churches and church-related bodies.

|AD|The second stage will consist of national meetings, with numerous regional meetings also being held across Europe, in the second half of 2006 or at the start of 2007, while the final stage, the Assembly itself, will be take place in Romania in 2007 and will be attended by 3000 delegates.

One of the most significant events to be held during the first stage of the process will include participation at Vespers in the Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls at the end of the week of Prayer for Christian Unity on 25 January, presided over by Pope Benedict XVI, and a meeting with the Holy Father.

The ecumenical meeting will be opened on 24 January at 15:00 with addresses from Bishop Amédée Grab, CCEE President, Pastor Jean-Arnold de Clermont, CEC President, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, President of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), Prof. Gianni Long, President of the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy (FCEI) and a representative of the Orthodox Church.

The meeting will then be divided into a number of sessions taking a closer look at a range of themes including ‘The ecumenical scene in Europe’, led by Cardinal Walter Casper, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, and Metropolitan Daniel of Moldovia and Bucovina will speak on the ‘Aims and themes of the EEA3’.

The meeting will be broadcast live on the official website of the Third European Ecumenical Assembly at www.eea3.org.