Clare Amos, NIFCON Co-ordinator attended this year's Journees D'Arras conference in Belgium. The ecumenical gathering considered how issues of religion and state also impact on Muslims and other faith groups as the demographic of Europe changes.

Journees D'Arras: Religion and State in Europe

The real breadth of the 'new Europe' was brought home to me through attending this year's Journées d'Arras, an informal gathering of European Christians involved in inter faith relations. This year's meeting took place in Hasselt in eastern Belgium, from 7 to 11 June. We came from different European countries and a range of Churches, and in spite of the very different history that different parts of Europe have experienced during the last half century, Journées d'Arras underscores the way a number of common realities are shared by Christians throughout Europe, whether Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant or Anglican.

The focus this year was on Religion and the State, clearly a significant theme for our present time. Working both in English and French, the participants shared information about the legal situation regarding religious communities in our different countries. In many parts of Europe a specific Christian tradition has an apparently privileged position, either as an official 'state church' or through a demographic weight that has given it access to national corridors of power and a sense of quasi-establishment. We learned what this meant in the different countries represented among us. The reality ranged from nations where churches and clergy were funded from national taxes, through the situation in England in which the Church of England may have political influence but in reality receives very little finance from the public purse, to the situation in France where the official doctrine of laicité is necessarily modified to take account of the continuing influence of the Roman Catholic Church.

But given the professional focus of the participants in Journées d'Arras the further question that we also sought to address was, 'What do these relationships between Church and State then imply for the increasing number of Muslims living in Europe?' There was a whole range of issues to explore, which pressure of time meant that we could only 'taste'. How can Muslims be appropriately integrated into European societies in which they constitute a small, though growing, minority? What models of relationship are appropriate and fruitful to enable Muslims to engage with the State? Should the dominant position of a Christian church vis-a-vis the State be adapted to take account of the increasing religious diversity and pluralism in European countries? Should Christians and Muslims be working together to combat a secularist agenda? How do religious rights relate to human rights? How have events in recent years affected all these developments? What lessons should be learned from the incident of the Danish cartoons?

It wasn't all talk among ourselves - even though that talking was very worthwhile. We also visited the Town Hall of the neighbouring mining town of Genk, where the very impressive Mayor spoke eloquently of the determination of the town to ensure that all, from all backgrounds, should be offered positive opportunities to participate in society and to take on community responsibility. He was quite open, however, about the need, if necessary, to take action against people who did not respect local rules and legislation. We went on to two of the mosques which had recently been built in the town one largely for the immigrant Turkish community, the other for the Moroccan one. They were very different architecturally, but both seemed equally determined to show how the Muslim community could be 'good neighbours' in the life of Genk. I particularly liked the story of the traditionally five times a day call to prayer: three times a day the 'call to prayer' is publicly broadcast from the minarets of the mosques, but not for the early morning or the late night call, a compromise with which everyone is happy. Our visit to Genk concluded with time spent at the 'Abraham House', a project initiated by the local Roman Catholic priest (who is a long time member of Journées d'Arras) but which has become an open house for people of all churches and for members of other faith communities.

Working in inter faith concerns is sometimes quite a lonely activity. Even though its importance is now much more clearly recognised, Christians who do so can sometimes find themselves slightly marginalised within their own churches and religious structures. Journées d'Arras offers the opportunity for such faithful people to share, learn, talk, engage and generally feel part of a wider world. I am already looking forward to next year, when we will meet at Gdansk, Poland, 30 May to 3 June, with the topic Prayer and Worship.

Clare Amos, Anglican Communion Network for Interfaith Concerns