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Tirana, Albania Discrimination, Persecution, Martyrdom: Following Christ Together Report of the international consultation Tirana, Albania, 2-4 November 2015 Because so much of the Christianity of yesterday and of today is the history of martyrdom, each of us and each community must gather in a glass cup the tears and blood of the persecuted, preventing it from being lost or trampled into the ground. Andrea Riccardi, Tirana, 2 November 2015 Convened and Organised by The Global Christian Forum Together with The Catholic Church *ÀÌ}*ÌwV> ÕVvÀ*ÀÌ} ÀÃÌ>1ÌÞ® The Pentecostal World Fellowship / i7À` ÕVv ÕÀV ià The World Evangelical Alliance Hosted by the / i"ÀÌ `ÝčÕÌVi« >Õà ÕÀV včL>> / ičL>> >Ì V à «Ã viÀiVi / i Û>}iV>č>VivčL>> Tirana, Albania 2-4 November 2015 Edited by Huibert van Beek and Larry Miller Introduction by Larry Miller Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available at http://dnb.d-nb.de © Copyright 2018 by Global Christian Forum Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft (Culture and Science Publ.) Prof. Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher Friedrichstraße 38, 53111 Bonn, Germany Fax +49 / 228 / 9650389 www.vkwonline.com / [email protected] ISBN 978-3-86269-155-5 Printed in Germany Design: Cover design by Printing Hub, Melbourne, Australia and Kate King Graphic Design, Melbourne, Australia Photography by Rev Kim Cain, Global Christian Forum, Eero Antturi, Andrea Hattler Bramsom and Peter Kenny Typeset in Minion Pro and Avenir Production: CPI Books / Buch Bücher.de GmbH, 96158, Germany www.cpi-print.de / [email protected] Distribution: Global Christian Forum: [email protected] Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft: [email protected] Sponsored by: Gebende Hände / Giving Hands gGmbH, Bonn, Germany Contents Introduction: The Tirana Consultation: An Historic Event? ......iii Programme ................................................................................ xi -iÃãq"«i}*i>ÀÞ ...................................................... 1 Welcome to the Consultation ..................................................................3 Introduction to the Consultation .........................................................10 Hopes for the Consultation ....................................................................12 Keynote Address ......................................................................................20 -iÃÃÓq6ViÃvÀ-ÕvviÀ} ÕÀV iÃ\*>ÀÌ£ ............... 29 -iÃÃÎq6ViÃvÀ-ÕvviÀ} ÕÀV iÃ\*>ÀÌÓ ............... 57 Session 4 – Small Group Discussions ..................................... 217 -iÃÃxqÛ}-`>ÀÌÞÜÌ -ÕvviÀ} ÕÀV ià ........ 83 -iÃÃÈq6ViÃvÀ ÕÀV iÃ-`>ÀÌÞ ......................115 -iÃÃÇq6ViÃvÀč}iViÃ-`>ÀÌÞ ..................... 137 Session 8 – Small Group Discussions ..................................... 217 -iÃÃq6ÃÃv7>}/}iÌ iÀ>ÃÌ i-ÕvviÀ} Church: Next Steps ................................................................. 167 -iÃã£q iÝÌ-Ìi«Ã\7>}/}iÌ iÀ>ÃÌ i -ÕvviÀ} ÕÀV ..................................................................... 187 Over Lunch Session ................................................................. 203 -Õ>ÀÞv->ÀÕ«,i«ÀÌà ......................................... 217 " -1/č/" --č ................................................... 241 Participants ............................................................................. 245 i Acknowledgements Many heads, hearts, and hands contributed to the creation of the consultation ‘Discrimination, Persecution, Martyrdom: Following Christ Together’: leaders of the four global co-sponsoring bodies and the three Albanian hosting bodies; the churches, organisations, and individuals who contributed financially or in kind, none of whom are here named in respect for those who wish to remain anonymous; and, all consultation participants and presenters, especially those from suffering churches who joined with and ministered to us at personal risk. To all of these, we express our deep gratitude. Heads, hearts, and hands contributed also to the creation of this report: Huibert van Beek, who did the tedious but foundational work of collecting and transcribing the consultation proceedings; Bruce Barron and Eleanor Miller, who endured the minutiae of Eng- lish-language copy-editing; Kim Cain, unusually-gifted photogra- pher; Jesse Cain, the designer who adds beauty to content; and the Gebende Hände Foundation (Germany), which has under-written financially and over-seen administratively the publication of this book. To each of these, we express our strong gratitude. Larry Miller Global Christian Forum Secretary Strasbourg, 4 March 2018 ii Photo: Kim Cain Rev Dr Larry Miller, Secretary, Global Introduction Christian Forum The Tirana Consultation: An Historic Event? More than 140 church leaders drawn from 65 nations met in Tira- na, Albania, 2-4 November 2015, and called on churches around the world to urgently pray, support, and be in solidarity with those suffer- ing persecution because of their faith. They came from most strands of global Christianity to manifest together their concern for and com- mitment to Christians who endure discrimination, persecution, and even martyrdom. The Global Christian Forum convened and organised the event to- gether with the Catholic Church (Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity), the Pentecostal World Fellowship, the World Coun- cil of Churches, and the World Evangelical Alliance. It was the first time that these four global church bodies worked together in a com- mon global initiative. The Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, the Albania Catho- lic Bishops Conference, and the Evangelical Alliance of Albania iii hosted the conference, for which the Resurrection of Christ Orthodox Cathedral and Cultural Centre was the primary venue. It was possibly the first time in the modern history of the church that a gathering consisting of so many streams of global Christianity coa- lesced around the issue of persecution of Christians. It may have been the first time also that high-level leaders from the widest spectrum of churches acknowledged collectively complicity in discrimination and persecution not only of people of other faiths but also of each other. This book contains the Consultation proceedings, including the mes- sages and the list of participants. This introduction provides essential context for understanding the proceedings as it describes the sequence of the programme and the spirituality of the event. The Flow of the Consultation The consultation programme (see pages xi - xv) was designed in three successive stages, to allow for a pertinent flow of the meeting process from the beginning to the end. The themes for the three days of sessions were (1) Listening to Suffering Churches, (2) Living in Solidarity with Suffering Churches, and (3) Walking Together as the Suffering Church. On each of the first two days, three plenary sessions were held in the morning and afternoon, with a small-group discussion session in the late afternoon. The evenings were left open for optional meetings and interaction between participants or participating bodies. On the last day, two more plenary sessions took place, along with one session in which the participants of the four global constituencies engaged in the consultation met separately. The consultation opened with words of welcome from three Albani- an church leaders: H.B. Archbishop Anastasios (Orthodox), Bishop George A. Frendo (Catholic), and the Rev. Akil Pano (Evangelical). Rev Dr Larry Miller, Secretary of the Global Christian Forum, also offered introductory remarks. Representatives of the four global bod- ies expressed their hopes for the consultation; Catholic Kurt Cardinal Koch read a message of greeting from Pope Francis. Dr Andrea Ric- cardi, founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio, then delivered a key- note address on the theme of the consultation. iv During the next two plenary sessions, the participants listened to the voices of suffering churches in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The afternoon programme on the first day also included a brief introduc- tion to a research project conducted by the International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF), on behalf of the Global Christian Forum and the four global constituencies, to collect and verify information on the persecution of Christians. On the morning of the second day, H.B. Archbishop Anastasios of- fered biblical and theological perspectives on the consultation theme, and Dr Thomas Schirrmacher and Dr Godfrey Yogarajah addressed issues of human rights and religious liberty. The panellists in this day’s plenary sessions reflected on the significance of exercising solidarity with those parts of the global body of Christ that are facing discrim- ination, persecution and martyrdom. Another IIRF research project, on the language and terminology used when discussing discrimina- tion and persecution, was also presented briefly. The third day focused on practical actions. The first plenary session included panellists’ recommendations as to next steps. In the second session, participants met in groups organised by confessional stream (Catholic, Ecumenical, Evangelical, Pentecostal). The leaders of the four consultation co-sponsors presented the outcome of these delib- erations during the final plenary in the afternoon. Along with these discussions of next steps, the adoption of a consul- tation message was the primary means of identifying and highlight- ing
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