On the morning of Thursday 13 December the Holy Father Francis held a private audience with the Presidency and Secretariat of the CCEE. The meeting, being both encouraging and exciting, was also a particular moment of grace and dialogue on the topic of the Church in Europe and allowed the President of the CCEE, Card. Angelo Bagnasco, to recount to the Pope the initiatives in progress and to have a precise indication from Him regarding future ventures.
Following this there was the meeting with Card. Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, and in the afternoon the meeting with Card. Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
The work of the CCEE Presidency had begun the previous day when choosing the theme for the next Plenary Assembly that will take place in Santiago de Compostela from 3 to 6 October 2019 and the approval of the dates for the annual meetings.
Among the themes on the agenda for the day was also confirming the next meeting of the Joint Committee of the CCEE and CEC (Conference of European Churches) for the 18 and 19 November 2019 in Brussels in which there will be present the proposal for a new European Ecumenical Assembly, more than ten years after the last that was held in Sibiu, Romania in 2007.
*Photo by the photographic service of L´Osservatore Romano