K. TSIARAS: We met today with representatives of the World Council of Churches and the Conference of European Churches. It was a useful and constructive meeting. We talked about the problem of the Christians in Syria, setting this problem in its proper dimensions and assessing all the parameters for the assistance the churches can provide. We also talked about the potential for humanitarian aid for this specific population, in this specific region. Another main topic of our talks was the economic crisis in Greece. The representatives were very interested in finding out exactly what is happening in our country and how we can confront the major economic crisis. I want to take this opportunity to thank them for this meeting and express great interest in and support for the efforts the World Council of Churches has been making for years to point up the principles and values of the Christian faith, and to make it possible to support population groups that are in need.
O. FYKSE TVEIT (General Secretary of the World Council of Churches): We have had a very important meeting here with the delegation from both the World Council of Churches and the Conference of European Churches. We are here to listen, we are here to learn all the Greek churches and the Greek people that they are leaders in handling this crisis, and we are here to say with our presence and with our words that a time of crisis is a time of solidarity. It is time to be together in unity and also to find what we can learn together from this situation. Also how we can mobilize our human resources, our spiritual and moral resources together to find a way forward. We expressed the support to the people of Greece and to the Church of Greece in this particular situation.
METROPOLITAN OF FRANCE: On behalf of the Conference of European Churches, together with the General Secretary of the Conference of European Churches and the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, we are grateful to the Greek government for this meeting with the Deputy Minister, and we would like to say how willing we are, as church organizations, to contribute in any way we can and to spread this message that we see in Greece. We came here because we really want to show how much we are participating in this effort taking place in the Greek state today, how much we empathize and are close not only to the Church, but to all the people, and how much we want Greece to emerge from this crisis so that there can be a better tomorrow. And this will really happen when everyone shows that they are starting to think in the same way. The word we use in the Church – “repentance” – means a change in mindset. This must be the central axis on which we base our efforts. And we who live in various other countries in Europe want to tell you that we are standing by you, showing you in our way, by coming here, how strongly we feel that we, too, are participating in this issue, which is not a Greek problem, but a European and global problem.
November 19, 2012