Building unity is not a private matter, but a task that transcends nations. National coordinators, community leaders and youth representatives of Europe, 40 people met in Prague on 23-25th February, 2024. Over the weekend we took a look at the topic of the unity of Christians. We listened to teaching, testimonies, were able to discuss in small groups, and prayed about this topic.
The European Continental Service of Communion (CCSC) consists of 22 national coordinators, representatives of the 13 largest international communities, additional representatives and coordination team members, approximately 40 people. We meet twice a year, and we always elaborate an important topic. This time we talked about the unity of Christians. We had also invited a young person from each country. A total of about 40 people were able to attend.
The event was organized by Pavla Petrášková, coordinator of National Services of Communion CHARIS (CNSC) in the Czech Republic. We were welcomed by the retreat house of Chemin Neuf Community near Prague.
Fr. Christophe Blin – Chemin Neuf community, member of International Service of Communion (CISC) – gave a talk on the background of the topic: the theological motivation of unity, the history of the steps towards unity, the role of Charismatic Renewal in the process, models of unity, and presented the practice of the Chemin Neuf Community on the matter. We went through our good and bad experiences in small groups.
David Loula (Protestant) and Fr. Jakub Sadílek OFM (Catholic) gave a wonderful testimony about the reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants. The reconciliation was held recently at the site of the 1620 Battle of White Mountain. The battle itself was the opening to a most devastating religious conflict, the Thirty Year’s War, which claimed 4-8 million victims, and therefore embodies a pivotal point of the Catholic-Protestant conflict. Hopefully, this will have a positive impact on the work of unity in other countries as well.
Tamás Pádár (secretary of CHARIS Hungary, a youth representative in CCSC) shared a testimony about his encounters with Protestants during community life, prayer services, evangelization events, leading or being led by members of other Churches.
Edith and Gavin Farley (vice president of European Network of Communities) are a mixed Catholic-Protestant couple. We heard a lot about how loyalty to their own identity and adherence to the covenant with one another went hand in hand.
Not only did we talk about unity, but we also prayed about it. During the two evenings, we praised the Lord, invited the Holy Spirit, repented of our deeds and mindset and of building an incomplete Church. We prayed for Europe, our priests prayed for us, we personally prayed for each other. The worship service was performed by 4 charismatic young people from Prague. They really created a heavenly atmosphere, involving everyone in the praise. The concluding mass was celebrated by Bishop Zdenek Wasserbauer, Auxiliary Bishop of Prague.
The weekend raised our awareness and probably gave us new enthusiasm and ways forward to build unity. This is a task that definitely requires European cooperation due to historical connections and international churches. We see significant encouraging steps going on. We should continue reconciliation and actions toward unity at all levels. God does not leave one side for the other, how can we follow the movement of the Holy Spirit if we are hindered by denominational boundaries? Unity is our heritage, which, although we have given it away once, we must definitely get back.
Zoltán Végh
Coordinator of CHARIS European Coordination Team
Hungary
