On Saturday, May 12th the courtyard of the Church of Saint Procopi, up the hill from the Lake of Tirana, was filled with more than 200 youth, members of Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical Churches, participating in the Inter-European meeting, “Together for Europe”. It was the third occasion that this activity had been organized; the two previous meetings were held in 2004 and 2007. The uniqueness of this meeting was that simultaneously, in 150 cities across Europe, parallel activities were held and around 17:00, there was a satellite link-up with a central meeting in Brussels. More than 300 Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical movements throughout Europe participated. The “Together for Europe” young people repeated at this meeting the say “Yes” times seven: Yes to life, to marriage and family, to creation, to a fair economy, to solidarity with the poor and needy, to peace, and to our responsibility towards the society.
Every European city had chosen a theme. Tirana chose “Yes, to creation”. In this context, the organizers, in cooperation with the Municipality of Tirana, decided that the young participants would paint some garbage bins placed along the streets of the Park Lake. They had lunch together, and at 15:00, they held a march, carrying banners displaying the YES times seven. The march was from the “Mother Teresa Square” to the Evangelical Center, where the central meeting was held.
At this meeting it was possible to make the satellite connection with the analogous meeting in Brussels, from which were conveyed several messages by various Christians authorities. Also the former European Commission President, Romano Prodi, spoke on what Together for Europe can offer, and the European Council President Herman Fon Rompui sent greetings by a video. Following there was a photographic montage from the morning activities that took place in 150 cities, and at the conclusion of all the European Christian movements a common message was given to the European Parliament. Present at the meeting in Tirana, the Archbishop of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, Anastasios, the Archbishop of Catholic Church, Rrok Mirdita, and the Chairman of the Evangelical Church Mr. Fitor Muçaj, who welcomed the young people and offered papers on the topic.
Luljeta Pjetri
Traslated by Ana Meni
Edited by Anastasia Pamela Barksdale
