TAIZÉ

European meeting 2022 in Rostock

Messages received

 
On this page are published the messages sent by church and political leaders to the participants of the 45th Taizé European meeting in Rostock.

Pope Francis
The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
The General Secretary of the World Lutheran Federation, Rev. Anne Burkhardt
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. António Guterres


Pope Francis

Dear Young People,

As you are gathered in Rostock for the European Meeting of Taizé, His Holiness Pope Francis wishes to express to you his spiritual closeness and affection. He is happy that, following the years of the pandemic, you are able to meet again, which is a beautiful sign of hope. Let us thank the Lord for this!

As you know, however, our world is facing still other great challenges, especially the tragedy of the reappearance of war in Europe. You are undoubtedly concerned and scandalized by this, and you are looking for ways to react; what to do together to help build peace and a greater human brotherhood. We must be lucid about the evil that surrounds us as well as that which sometimes inhabits our hearts. In the face of evil, the theme that brings you together this year, “2023 Inner Life and Solidarity ”, will lead you to opt for trust in God, without despairing of humanity.

The Pope can only encourage you in this option. Indeed, it is through prayer, the inner life, a personal relationship with the Lord that hope remains alive and trust in Him is constantly renewed. And it is by practicing human solidarity, strengthened by the presence of the Lord in you, that you will feel how much God can act through you to change the world.

You have also chosen to ask yourselves about the creativity to which God is calling you at this time in history, when many young people live with anxiety and sometimes in fear. We see in the Gospel that Jesus prepares his disciples to resist the fear that paralyzes, that blocks all initiative, that isolates. He does not promise them an easy life, but his peace. By welcoming this Spirit, you will be able to say “no” to injustice in all its forms while allowing the “yes” to mature in you, which will allow you to seek together the answers to the challenges of our time.

It is in order to allow the People of God to listen to this same Spirit that the Holy Father has engaged the Catholic Church in a synodal process, so that the good news of Jesus may be better proclaimed to the world, with the joy and hope that he brings to every person. The Pope encourages you to take your rightful place in this process and invites you to pray for this intention.

Pope Francis gives you his Apostolic Blessing and asks the Holy Spirit to inspire and sustain in you the same “yes” that he inspired in the heart of the Virgin Mary.

Edgar Peña Parra, Substitute


The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

Dear young people,

After two years marked by the pandemic of COVID-19 and the return of a particularly bloody armed conflict on the old continent, the Taizé young adult meetings are once again taking to the roads of Europe for an exceptional start to the year in Rostock, Germany. We greet you with great joy and send you our warmest greetings from the Ecumenical Patriarchate. We pray that the ecumenical experience you are witnessing will be a source of inspiration and renewal throughout the coming year 2023.

As you will discover, or rediscover for all those for whom these meetings are not new, the experience that is proposed to you these days touches the very foundation of Christianity and participation in the mystery of communion. Indeed, even if our Churches are not yet ready to meet around the same chalice, the moments of sharing, the opportunities for exchange, the reality of your “being together,” are the tangible manifestation of an authentic experience of communion.

This awareness that we are members of the same body, in Jesus Christ, cannot be limited to a single intellectual exercise, but is lived, believed and springs from the crucible in which the very mystery of the one and indivisible Trinity unfolds. For the Christian faith is often tested by the very history of humanity. We ask for signs. We want assurances. We cannot stand the doubts of our time. But the very object of our faith is God as a person, not some idea of God, much less a disenchanted and faceless spirituality. Our path is clear, to follow that truth revealed by the incarnate Christ, who gave his life for the life of the world. This spiritual journey is one of mystical union, according to the extraordinary expression of St. Paul: “In Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been made near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace: he has made what was divided into one. In his flesh he has broken down the dividing wall of hatred” (Eph. 2:13-14). And as St. Gregory the Theologian also wrote: “Happy is the one who, through reason and contemplation, has been able to renounce this world of matter and flesh ..., to encounter God and to unite himself with the absolutely unmixed light, insofar as it is accessible to human nature! Blessed is the one who rises above this world and unites himself with God in the other world” (Discourse 21, 2).

Christian unity is a self-evident fact to which we are irreversibly committed. However, as time passes, as the decades go by, as the enthusiasm of the beginning fades, it is necessary to question the reasons for our quest for unity. In addition to the injunction of Christ in the Gospel according to Saint John, “Be one” (Jn 17:21), which alone determines our search for the restoration of the bond of communion, it is essential to understand the ever-renewed relevance of this commandment. Certainly, historical conditions change. On the other hand, our unwavering commitment to bringing Christians together, to the unity of our Churches, is due to the emergence of an ecumenical kairos, through which ecclesial catholicity manifests itself, and of which you are today having a rich experience.

May the grace of unity and peace shine forth in each and every one of you, and may it be the bearer of the hope that sustains the life of the Church, so that you may be worthy workers in the Lord’s vineyard.


The General Secretary of the World Lutheran Federation

Dear pilgrims of trust,
Dear Brother Alois and the Community of Taizé,

I greet you on behalf of the Lutheran World Federation, a global communion of 149 member churches with more than 77 million members.

You are all on a journey, a journey ever deeper in what faith means, how trust is lived, and how love is expressed. God’s plan for our world is a plan of reconciliation and peace. this good news is what moves us to work for justice and to oppose all those forces, powers and principalities, as Paul writes, that wish to divide, fragment and destroy the creation God intended.

You are meeting in Rostock. The reality of war is again threatening Europe. We pray for a just peace in Ukraine, and we also pray for a just peace in so many other places on our planet. We also pray for peace with our planet Earth itself. May we walk on it gently and care for it justly.

I join you in a commitment to prayer and action at this European meeting in Rostock. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote that prayer and action define the future of the church. So let us fervently pray and, with joyful hearts, serve our neighbors. May God bless you so that you may be a blessing to others.


The Secretary General of the United Nations, M. António Guterres

The Taizé Community represents a beacon of hope, peace and compassion for countless people around the world.

I have fond memories of attending a Taizé gathering as a student – and wish you all the best as you come together for your annual meeting.

We face profoundly challenging times. COVID-19 has exacerbated fragilities and injustice. Conflict and inequality are on the rise. Hate speech and misinformation are pulling people apart. And climate change, along with biodiversity loss, threaten our very survival.

Young people have been at the forefront of sounding the alarm and pushing for change. I strongly believe we must do all we can to support your efforts as designers of our common future. That’s why I have worked to expand engagement with young people – including by creating the United Nations Youth Office.

Thank you for your commitment to advancing peace, sustainable development and human rights around the globe. The United Nations stands with you in our shared efforts to build a more just, sustainable and inclusive world for all.

Last updated: 26 December 2022