Conference of European Churches - Office of Communications

Press release No. 09-23/e

5 May 2009

The economic crisis is a call for change
CEC sends open letter to the Presidents of the EU institutions

In view of the meeting of the Presidents of the EU Institutions with religious leaders on 11 May, the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches addressed an open letter to the Presidents of the European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission.

The churches are concerned that the measures that have been taken by the EU and its Member States so far may not solve the economic crisis, but may simply deal with its symptoms: “We are convinced that the current crisis is much more profound than the analysis of the EU institutions has suggested so far. The crisis calls into question a number of assumptions, which have underpinned the EU´s economic policies over the last decades, such as deregulation, the primacy of economic criteria in all areas of life as well as an overemphasis on profit and growth. The current crisis is to a large extent a crisis of trust towards the financial and political institutions and towards the system, which provoked it.”

In their open letter, the churches stress the ethical dimension of the economic crisis: “Our societies are suffering from a lifestyle which is focusing on individual profit, consumption and greed rather than taking responsibility for the common good, the well-being and the future for all people and for the world we are living in.”

The open letter is one of the results of a three day meeting in Brussels and Mechelen, in which church representatives from all over Europe addressed issues related to the present economic and financial crisis and the economic and social policies of the EU.

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The Conference of European Churches (CEC) is a fellowship of some 120 Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches from all countries of Europe, plus 40 associated organisations. CEC was founded in 1959. It has offices in Geneva, Brussels and Strasbourg.

The Church and Society Commission of CEC links member churches and associated organisations of CEC with the European Union’s institutions, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, NATO and the UN (on European matters). Its task is to help the churches study church and society questions from a theological and social-ethical perspective, especially those with a European dimension, and to represent common positions of the member churches in their relations with political institutions working in Europe.

For more information:
Ms Elizabeta Kitanovic
Church and Society Commission of CEC
Rue Joseph II, 174
B-1000 Bruxelles
Tel. +32 2 230 17 32
Fax +32 2 231 14 13
E-Mail: eki@cec-kek.be