Addressing the impacts of globalisation is one of the priority areas of work of the Church and Society Commission of the CEC.
Current projects include:
- A dialogue process between Churches in Europe and Latin America.
- The contribution of European Churches to the World Council of Churches' process on Wealth, Poverty and Ecology.
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Delegates of CSC/CEC and Latin America Council of Churches (CLAI) will meet in the next round of the dialogue
The CSC/CEC-CLAI dialogue in 2009-10 brought many positive results for churches on both continents. The final part of the joint statement, Joint commitments stemming from the dialogue, (see below) highlights various positive examples of churches’ action in responding to societal challenges. It emphasises two thematic topics and proposes them for further consideration: climate justice and debt. These will be in the centre of attention during the next encounter of the CSC/CEC and CLAI delegations.
The next meeting of the CSC/CEC – CLAI dialogue will take place in Havana (Cuba) from 17 – 22 January 2012.
The theme of the next round of the dialogue is sustainable economic governance. Attention will be given to the following aspects:
1. Churches in the public domain and good governance from a theological perspective
Sharing of respective views and experiences of churches from two continents on the role of advocacy in the life of the churches and theological perspectives on good governance. To focus on biblical and theological evaluations of good governance and interpretation from both continents, with the understanding that theology rooted in the practical day-to-day experience of individuals and communities may reveal different hermeneutical accents due to context and culture.
2. Global governance and debt
The economic and financial crisis has revealed the substantial flaws of the global economy and financial sector. Along with its economic, financial and debt dimensions, the current crisis reveals a crisis of political culture. Politics, in spite of several bail out proposals, has not yet found a satisfactory answer to the challenges and a way to protect communities from the severe impacts of the crisis. Since the initial discussion on debt in the previous dialogue, the global situation has developed in a dramatic way. In revisiting previous conclusions, the conversation will consider various dimensions and practical implications of debt, such as its spiritual dimension, biblical approaches, limits to debt and an increasing debate about other forms of debt beyond its economic dimension, e.g. ecological debt.
3. Climate justice and growth
Climate justice has been identified as the main structural term in the outcomes of the Poverty, Wealth and Ecology consultation. Climate justice is first of all an issue of justice and not only limited to an environmental agenda. In responding to the increasing necessity of a trustworthy answer to the challenge of the debt agenda, various scenarios recently have been proposed with accents on various principles: austerity, strict regulation or the stimulation of green growth. The principal question behind all these proposals is whether sustainability is at all compatible with the idea of growth.
The dialogue is one of the contributions of the CSC/CEC and CLAI to the WCC process on Poverty, Wealth and Ecology.
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Threats and Challenges of Globalisation - Churches in Europe and Latin America in dialogue. Outcomes of the first round of the dialogue between CSC/CEC and CLAI published jointly with the Latin American Council of Churches – CLAI. The document is the result of a dialogue which contributed to trustbuilding and overcoming of differencies in a number of discussed themes and is a joint contribution to a wider ecumenical debate.
We invite the churches of CEC and CLAI to reflect the outcomes of the dialogue. The text underlines: ‘CSC/CEC and CLAI welcome with pleasure the involvement from the churches, church-related organisations and individuals in both continents, as well as from the larger ecumenical family. We hope to receive their comments and reactions to this text and in this way nurture the next stages of our joint commitment.
English Spanish To order
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Poverty, Wealth and Ecology
Poverty, Wealth and Ecology is the major project of the World Council of Churches addressing impacts of economic globalization, increasingly widening the gap between the rich and the poor and their threats to global peace and to the earth. Church and Society Commission of the CEC actively participate on the project and contribute to it.
The consultation on Poverty, Wealth and Ecology in Europe took place in November 2010 in Budapest (Hungary). The meeting offered the delegates from European churches and guests from all over the world a possibility to examine the impacts of economic and financial crises and exchange on churches' responses to these crises, and to combine this discussion with the broader debates about global wealth creation, its distribution, poverty and environmental degradation.
Final Statement from the Budapest Global Consultation for Climate Justice
Addressing Poverty, Wealth and Ecology
Budapest - Ecumenical Youth Declaration
In 2011 the Poverty, Wealth and Ecology consultation took place in Calgary, Canada. The meeting focused its attention on the situation in North America and on initiatives of the NA churches in facing challenges in these thematic areas. After last year consultation in Europe, the meeting in NA continued in several ways the line of deliberations initiated in Budapest and its Call to Climate Justice. It was in particular in focusing on environmental part of the complex PWE agenda, as well as in linking the conference agenda with practical challenges of the continent at the current stage. The report from the consultation can be downloaded here.
Activities of the CSC in this thematic area take into consideration:
Decisions of the CEC 13th Assembly in Lyon, in particular encouragements:
- To deeepen our ethical and spiritual reflection on the causes and meaning of the financial and economic crisis;
- To revitalize the Christian culture of solidarity;
- To promote examples of faith-based economic praxis which provide alternatives to current economic structures;
- To offer a space of dialogue on global concerns with partners of other continents.
Recommendation VIII. of the 3rd European Ecumenical Assembly in Sibiu:
To launch a consultative process, addressing European responsibility for ecological justice, facing the threat of climate change, European responsibility for the just shaping of globalisation and to do it in cooperation with the churches of other continents.
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Past projects and publications include:
European Churches living their faith in the context of globalisation (English, German, French, Spanish) - 2006
Sustainable Development, and the Market Economy - Integrating environment in EU economic and employment policies - January 2000 - Part 1 Part 2
"The Dominant Economic Model and Sustainable Development: Are they Compatible?" A critical contribution to the mid-term evaluation of the Fifth Programme of the EU Community Programme of Policy and Action in Relation to Environment and Sustainable Development - 1995
