Ekumeniczne implikacje przemian w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej

Abstract

Starting from 1989 there have been many changes in the political, social and spiritual landscape of Europe. This turning point of history was not caused by the use of force, but by the erosion of the former authorities fundaments structure. The post-communistic communities of Eastern-Central Europe started to organize the regained freedom in the atmosphere of common enthusiasm and euphory. Very soon, it turned out that this undertaking process of transformation is accompanied by many negative phenomena such as: unemployment, diminution of social security services, rapid social differentiation, corruption, domination of the particular interests of many political parties. The author of the article tries to present three main types of attitudes which should be overcome in order to help people in the post-communistic countries and the role of the Church. In the first part, hesketches attitudes and behaviours typical for homo sovieticus it means for human being who was formed by the ideology and practice of communism, in the Soviet Union and other teritories of the soviet hegemony. One can point out that homo sovieticus is a collective being who was deprived of all humanistic and spiritual values and ideals like the longing for freedom, truth or creativeness. The homo sovieticus lost consciousness of his dignity as a person and feels his identity only as a member of a collective. There is a very big ecumenical task for Churches to help to overcome the homo sovieticus phenomenon. This must be reached by proclaming salvation in Jesus Christ, and showing the return way to Christian values as ethical basis of human individual and social existence. The second part of the article refers to the attitudes and behaviours finding expression in radical nationalistic tendencies in post-communist Europe. In many countries there are two opposite tendencies: the first one, the new future “Europeanization” related to the new forms of the integration of countries and nationalities. The second one, the “nationalistic populism” postulating the return to the old type nation or even secession and separatism. The break-down of the communistic ideology caused the spiritual emptiness and disorientation, from which the most popular are liberalism and nationalism. The problem of nationalism put the Churches of Eastern-Central Europe in front of a very difficult dillemma: how to set up the right border between that what is religious and that what is national or even nationalistic. Churches should help the community of European countries in looking for the awareness of the Christian roots of the European culture. Being national, Churches should underline in their pastoral factors, creating the new European quality - “unity in diversity” The third part of the article presents the attitudes and behaviours which strike in the ideal of European unity and its cultural Christian heritage. The Christian Churches have an important role to play in the process of unification of Europe. All their pastoral tasks, connected with the historical turning-point of 1989, should be considered in the wider perspective of re-evangelization (a new evangelization) of the whole Europe. It will be a very important witness of truth, freedom and love. Close relations of the Eastern and Western Churches on the foundation of “unity in diversity” or “reconciled diversity” will be the significant witness for people and nations. In the centre of the new evangalization of Europe there should be a person with all dimensions of their current human existence.