Dr Johnston McMaster at Peace Conference. Photo: CEC/Alžběta Slámová
Press Release No: 19/20
11 September 2019
Brussels
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The Peace Conference organised by the Conference of European Churches (CEC) commenced in Paris on 10 September, bringing into focus the legacy of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, seeking new and creative ways of peacebuilding.
The conference, held at the Institut Protestant de Théologie, celebrates the role of CEC in peace and reconciliation at its 60th Anniversary observed this year.
The 1919 Paris Peace Conference, which resulted in the encounter of Allied powers following the end of World War I, and establishing peace terms, has inspired a series of dialogue and encounters at the CEC Peace Conference.
“There is no peace and reconciliation unless the socio-economic strand is addressed and implemented,” said Dr Johnston McMaster from the Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College in Dublin, in his opening address.
“If we engage literary and historically with the contextualised reading of St Paul’s classic text on reconciliation in Corinthians, we will see the socio-economic vision and strand at the heart of it,” added McMaster. “It could be that a missing piece of the peace at Paris in 1919 was socio-economic justice.”
In his opening message, CEC President Rev. Christian Krieger reminded the participants that the Conference of European Churches emerged in 1959 from a fragmented and divided Europe following the Second World War.
“At that time there was a real need to overcome political divisions, and work for healing and peace. This original mission carries us forward even today as we continue to work for a humane, social and sustainable Europe at peace,” he said.
Greetings at the first day of the conference were brought by Sylvain Waserman, Vice-President of the French National Assembly, Claudia Roth, Vice-President of the German Bundestag and His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel of France.
The CEC Peace Conference has brought together over sixty participants from across Europe, representing CEC Member Churches and Organisations in Partnership.
Speeches, messages from the CEC Peace Conference
Photos from the CEC Peace Conference
For more information or an interview, please contact:
Naveen Qayyum
Communication Assistant
Conference of European Churches
Rue Joseph II, 174 B-1000 Brussels
Tel. +32 2 234 68 42
Fax +32 2 231 14 13
E-mail: naveen@cec-kek.be
Website: www.ceceurope.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ceceurope
Twitter: @ceceurope