East meets \Vest in lenna unity move

From STELLA MUSULIN in Vienna "I REALLY think," remarked Cardinal Koenig. "that when I had that car smash in Yugoslavia, Providence was giving me my clue to look towards the East. Until then, I had never thought about this great task. And it was Pope John who encouraged me to go ahead."
The Cardinal had called a press conference together to tell of an important project which is to be launched here. It is called "The Ecumenical Symposium Pro Oriente" and it will have very far-reachihg functions. Its main purpose is to further understanding between the Catholic and Orthodox churches and it is an offshoot of Cardinal Bea's Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity.
While Cardinal Koenig was mainly concerned to discuss the theological implications of Pro Oriente, Dr. Heinrich Drimmel -for eight years Austrian Minister of Education, now vicemayor of Vienna told us about the practical set-up. Pro Oriente will . . .
• FURTHER academic research . . .
• FINANCE conferences . . .
• SUBSIDISE certain religious periodicals, and • PROVIDE stipends for theology students.
Most important of all, a faculty for the study of the history and theology of the Orthodox Churches and their relations with western Christianity is to be founded at Vienna University.
Generally speaking, Pro Oriente's job is going to be to induce people on all levels of education to take an active part in unity. And it will be a meeting place a "confrontation" between East and West.
The laity are going to take a very big part: it is by no means simply a matter for the priesthood, or even only for theologians,
Why Vienna?
The whole thing is to be officially launched today (Friday) and tomorrow in the Great Hall of the university. The Metropolitan of Ilioupoleos and Theyra. Meiiton, will be present as delegate of Patriarch Athenagoras I and the Synod of Constantinople. and also Bishop Jan Willebrands. of the Secretariat for Christian
Unity.
"Why choose Vienna?" someone asked. Cardinal Koenig replied that Vienna's geographical position makes it ideal for eastwest contatas, and it had become increasingly clear to him that the duties of the Archbishop of Vienna nowadays extend beyond the boundaries of his own diocese.
Out of this geographical situaVon had conic his contacts with the Catholic Church in Iron Curtain countries: now, new responsibilities are seen in connection with the Orthodox -churches.
Laity's part
Dr. Drimmel said that some means must be found to convince the laity how important it is that they should play a part in this new "confrontation". Young people must be trained for it, and this is where the university faculty will come in. But people of all ages w ill have to discover what it is that they personally can do.
In his typically deadpan man per he added-to the Cardinal's great amusement-"We cunt all have a car smash so as to find out what we're meant to do". The Symposium will not be holding unity talks as such, he said, but it is expected to add up to something much more than mere "pallaver". The differences between us must be highlighted rather than obscured.
He asked us to show understanding if press conferences are kept to a 111111iMUM, "The whole thing contains an element of calculated risk. And we don't want to cackle before we know were in a position to lay eggs."