12th meeting of the Presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences of South-east Europe   

Strasbourg, France, 5-8 March 2012

The Presidents of nine Bishops’ Conferences - Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Moldova, Romania, the International Bishops’ Conference of Saints Cyril and Methodius, and Turkey, all united in being minority churches in their respective countries of south-east Europe - will gather in Strasbourg at the St Thomas Cultural Centre (2 rue de la Carpe-Haute - Strasbourg) to meet with some representatives from the Council of Europe.

The meeting promoted by the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) and the Holy See’s Permanent Mission to the Council of Europe includes, inter alia, the participants attending the Mass for Europe organised the Vatican Mission in cooperation with the Archdiocese of Strasbourg and, which will take place on Wednesday 7 March at 1830 in Strasbourg Cathedral. Invited to the celebration, presided over by the local Archbishop Jean-Pierre Grallet, will be a number of people working in the European institutions: Ambassadors and officials from the Council of Europe, judges from the European Court of Human Rights, as well as members of the church communities and organisations which take part in the European journey from close quarters.

The meeting will be held behind closed doors.

The programme is available in French or Italian.

LIST OF THE PRESIDENTS PARTICIPATING
Albania – His Grace Mgr Rrok Mirdita, Metropolitan Archbishop of Tiranë-Durrës
Bosnia Herzegovina – His Lordship Mgr Franjo Komarica, Bishop of Banja Luka
Bulgaria - His Lordship Mgr Christo Proykov, Apostolic Exarch of Sofia
Cyprus – His Grace Mgr Youssef Soueif, Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus
Greece - His Lordship Mgr Fragkískos Papamanólis, Bishop of Siros and Santorini
Moldova – His Lordship Mgr Anton Cosa, Bishop of Chişinău
Romania – His Lordship Mgr Virgil Bercea, Bishop of Oradea Mare (representing the President)
Saints Cyril and Methodius – His Grace Mgr Zef Gashi, Archbishop of Bar
Saints Cyril and Methodius – His Lordship Mgr Ladislav Nemet, Bishop of Zrenjanin (General Secretary of the Bishops’ Conference)
Turkey – His Lordship Mgr Louis Pelâtre, Vicar Apostolic of Istanbul

Holy See:
Mgr Aldo Giordano, Permanent Observer of the Holy See at the Council of Europe
Mgr Slađan Ćosić, Deputy Permanent Observer.

CCEE: Mgr. Duarte da Cunha, CCEE General Secretary
The Council of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe (CCEE) includes the current 33 European Episcopal Conferences, represented by their Presidents, and the Archbishops of Luxembourg, of the Principality of Monaco, the Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus and the Bishop of Chişinău (Moldova Rep.) and the Eparchial Bishop of Mukachevo. The President is Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Primate of Hungary; the Vice-Presidents are Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa, and Mgr Józef Michalik, Archbishop of Przemyśl, Poland. The General Secretary is Mgr Duarte da Cunha. The Secretariat is based at St Gallen (Switzerland). www.ccee.ch

27.02.2012