Paths to Reconciliation: Memories, Encounters, and Active Peace Initiatives in Post-Yugoslav Realities

Every monotheistic religion relies on same principles- those of love, respect and mercy. If all of us were created as the picture of God, in all its diversity, why do we use this diversity for separation instead of complementation? Religion in the Balkans has been an important factor in reconciliation, shaping the minds and influencing the hearts of believers, for finding a path towards the others in a positive way, and being influenced by positive examples of inter-religious dialogue, seen among religious leaders, but also different initiatives which gather large numbers of citizens.

Memory Reconciliation: Personal and Institutional Aspects, Education and the Role of the Media

Memory plays a pivotal role in shaping collective identity and influencing perspectives on the past, present, and future. In societies scarred by historical conflicts, reconciling memories is essential for healing wounds, fostering comprehension, and constructing a more inclusive future. The juxtaposition of the culture of memory with the culture of forgetting underscores the continuum from collective remembrance to collective amnesia. This reconciliation is not merely about recalling past events but involves a complex process of reinterpreting and integrating those memories to build a shared future.

Collective Memory and Reconciliation

The question of whether memory should be transformed may seem debatable. Or at least, we should ask ourselves what is meant by transformation. When it comes to memory, the goal should be the right remembering, in which the principles of truth and justice have the greatest importance. We should therefore focus on the purification or rectification of memory, which enables the transformation of relationships. Correct shared memory is the prerequisite for forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing. These principles are the extensions of the Gospel proposition “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32) and should be the basis of any political theology. When two groups of people establish enough truth about their common past, it seems that they can create a creative and life-enhancing reality.

Reflection on forgiveness as a way of transfiguration of wounded memories

In the Catholic Church there have been various reflections on the healing of wounded memories, and various gestures, particularly around the Jubilee Year 2000. That very year, the International Theological Commission produced the document Memory and Reconciliation: The Church and the Faults of the Past, which deals with the purification of memory in various contexts, including between Christian communities. Among other aspects, the documents states that forgiveness granted to others and the request for forgiveness are indispensable steps towards healing wounded memories and reconciliation. Forgiveness, however, as well as the acknowledgement of one's faults, together with the request for forgiveness, are not within human strength.

Remember the Victims – Forget the Evil

The ways to reconciliation, no matter how real they are, can only be like overgrown paths or lines on navigation maps, if they are not followed. Memories could be like the meadows along those paths - of various colors and smells but still wild, uncultivated and unpredictable, if they are not cultivated, which implies that something is grown on them, but something, if not quite uprooted, at least not nourished, something remembered, and something forgotten, because it would only make sense to talk about culture, that is, the cultivation of memory. The meetings themselves in this analogy could even be understood as comfortable highways, which still lead nowhere if people do not meet on them in sincere efforts to make peace..., while active peace initiatives would be like crossroads on those paths and roads, and personal examples would be the only sure signposts to the path, truth and life.

Voices Across Ex-Yugoslavia: Testimonies and Narratives of 1990s Migrants on Refugee Issues

Each refugee crisis is a tragedy. It means that there is a war, violence, political or religious persecution, some natural disaster or unbearable influence of climate change, or perhaps people are escaping from extreme poverty. Refugees present a collision with reality, with the world that is full of injustices and suffering. As is always the case with the bad news, there are two basic ways to cope with it: to deny and disregard it, or to allow ourselves to be moved by it.

Memory and (Religious and National) Identity in the Post-Communist Era – New Opportunities and Challenges for Peace

Identity is a sociogenic and dynamic phenomenon that simultaneously acts as a factor of integration/inclusion and exclusion/separation. On the other hand, identity implies a certain sameness or self-awareness over time, and in this sense, memory plays an important role as the connective tissue of personal and collective identity. Given that the „other“ is often the context against which the image of oneself is created, memory can play an instrumental role in reinforcing the „useful“ narrative about oneself and the other to legitimize and justify exclusions and secure privileges.

Theology as a Critical Discourse

Greetings

As Chairman of the Council of Churches in Austria, but also as a Bishop of the Armenian-apostolic Church I am very honored to be with you today and to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Foundation Pro Oriente. Today, when we celebrate this important anniversary, we remember with gratitude the blessed memory Cardinal König, who had the great vision of establishing such a foundation.

Greetings

I am delighted to be able to celebrate the Sixtieth anniversary of the PRO ORIENTE Foundation with you today. We look back with gratitude on many decades of blessed work in the service of reconciliation and rapprochement between the Catholic Church and the Churches of the East.

Presentation by Sergii Bortnyk

Unfortunately, today in Ukraine we are going through the phase that can hardly be called “healing the wounded memory”. Rather, this is the stage of creating new wounds – especially in relationships between two Orthodox jurisdictions – the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) and Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). Since a long time they have existed in confrontation with each other. At the same time the current phase of the war with Russia is characterized by a revision by the Churches members of their own identity – this can become an impulse for positive changes and future reconciliation between the Churches in Ukraine.

Grußwort

The sixty years that Pro Oriente existed were widely seen as a time of peace. This favored ecumenical dialogue, which was often able to diminish theological and church-political irritations with astonishing success.

Greetings

Inspired by the Ecumenical vision of the Second Vatican Council, Cardinal Franz Koenig founded the the Pro Oriente Foundation for the reconciliation between the Latin West and the Churches of the Byzantine tradition. Soon the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Church of the East were invited to join the Ecumenical journey.

Greetings

As a Consultor of Pro Oriente and a former member of the Syriac Dialogue Commission, I am happy to share some thoughts on the importance of the work that Pro Oriente carries out.

Grußwort

Die Begegnung mit Pro Oriente war für mich eine erhebliche Erweiterung meines Horizontes. dabei denke ich besonders an das Regionalsymposium im Kloster Kröffelbach und Gespräche zum Beispiel mit Alfred Stirnemann, denke an zahlreiche Tagungen und Konferenzen, denke an die gemeinsam mit Pro Oriente ausgerichtete Summerschool (u.a. mit Johann Marte) in Istanbul. Dabei lernte ich, dass der Kontext der Stiftung dieselben Partner, die ich aus anderen Zusammenhängen schon kannte, zuweilen in einem anderen Licht erscheinen ließ.

Greetings

The Christological agreement between the Catholic Church and the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church in 1984 and the agreement between the Catholic Church and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in 1990 in fact fundamentally influenced by the Christological discussions of the Catholic and the Oriental Orthodox theologians under the auspices of the Pro Oriente foundation in Vienna in early 1970’s.

Greetings

As we stand at the threshold of the 60th Anniversary of the PRO ORIENTE Foundation, I am filled with immense gratitude for the foundation’s unwavering commitment to ecumenical rapprochement and cooperation among Christian Churches, particularly in dialogue with the Churches of the Orient/East.

Greetings on the 60-year-anniversary of PRO ORIENTE

The founding of PRO ORIENTE by Cardinal Franz König in 1964 was associated with a great vision: the vision of reconciliation. 60 years have passed since then, during which the world has fundamentally changed several times. With it the churches in East and West. The many, many encounters during PRO ORIENTE proved to be a great blessing. They always took place on equal terms. I remember some of them, in which I was also able to take part, with great gratitude.

60 Years PRO ORIENTE

Since my studies in Innsbruck and Rome at the Pontificium Institutum Orientale, I have had the privilege of maintaining numerous contacts with the Pro Oriente Foundation, especially after my return to Austria in 1970. The Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches were a small minority in Austria 50 years ago. Pro Oriente offered them a beneficial platform where they could present themselves in the ecumenical symposia, and many books and publications also publicised the Eastern churches to broader sections of society. The archbishops of Vienna always showed them interest and favour.

PRO ORIENTE 60 Years

In 1989, PRO ORIENTE could celebrate 25 years. Alois Grillmeier SJ formulated in vol. 2/2: The Church of Constantinople in the Sixth Century of “Jesus der Christus im Glauben der Kirche“ (English: Christ in Christian Tradition) the following dedication to Cardinal Koenig and the foundation PRO ORIENTE instituted by him, the promotors of the dialogue with the Churches of the East: “Domino Francisco Cardinali Koenig dialogi cum ecclesiis orientalibus promotori et institutioni ‘Pro Oriente’ quinque lustris ante ab ipso fundatae”.

Pro Oriente? Not Only!

Pro Oriente? Not only! Wherever you look, no direction seems to have been overlooked in these 60 years, be it in the geographical, historical or political sense. Nevertheless, the view always remains focused: when things were going badly politically in the world, the Pro Oriente has ensured in its work that the accents are set in such a way that that political tragedies do not make Christian hope forgotten; when the political situation improves, the Pro Oriente has never done focus on political delights so much that they become a source of hope. The Pro Oriente takes the political circumstances into account, but it does not want to be politics itself.

60th Anniversary PRO ORIENTE

It is with great pleasure that I extend my warmest congratulations to you on the momentous occasion of your 60th anniversary. This significant milestone is a testament to the dedication, vision, and enduring commitment of PRO ORIENTE to promoting ecumenical dialogue over the past six decades.

60 Jahre „Pro Oriente“

Zu den großen Anliegen des II. Vatikanischen Konzils gehört der Dialog sowohl innerhalb der Christenheit als auch mit der Welt und ihren Lebensbereichen. Einer der maßgeblichen Pioniere war der Wiener Erzbischof Kardinal Dr. Franz König, der 1964 die Stiftung „Pro Oriente“ für die Wiederannäherung und die ökumenische Zusammenarbeit mit den Kirchen des Ostens gründete und maßgeblicher Träger des Dialogs und zahlreicher Initiativen war.

Bridging Divindes in the Balkans

As a participant in the conference of the “Healing of Wounded Memories” project, I was driven to share insights into our theological initiatives addressing the multifaceted issues discussed- an endeavor both proud and humbling. The goal of exploring transitional justice and reconciliation, as outlined in the conference objectives, was profoundly impacted by the ongoing war in Ukraine, conflicts in the Holy Land, and the geopolitical tensions casting a prevailing shadow over Southeastern Europe’s stability. This circumstance has heightened our eagerness to present our ecumenical vision, particularly within the intricate tapestry of the Balkans. Here, where wounds from past conflicts linger, the theological discourse serves as a vital compass guiding the way toward reconciliation and healing. The ongoing challenges only strengthen our resolve to navigate our work in the complexities of this region.

Greetings of Christoph Cardinal Schönborn

My memories go back 50 years when I first came into contact with the than 10-years-young foundation. As a young theologian I participated (as listener) at the famous Symposium on Ecclesiology in 1974. In the early 80s Cardinal König called me to join the directory of Pro Oriente. For nearly 30 years I have the honor to be Protector of the Foundation.