Kairos Europa, which I am asked to represent, was formed by ecumenical groups and networks following the 1st European Ecumenical Assembly in Basel in 1989. The idea was to stimulate the participation of churches in the "Conciliar process of mutual commitment to justice, peace and the integrity of creation" (JPIC). Kairos linked the north/south and east/west issues with the questions of economic justice within western Europe even before the notion "globalization" became fashionable. We try to combine the churches' efforts with the struggle of social movements which work from the perspective of and with the participation of the victims of neoliberal globalization. This includes going beyond general statements and developing clear analysis and demands for alternatives in order to help developing a society with space for all living people now and in the future in harmony with nature.

Becoming a confessing church?

The Kitwe consultation of Warc in 1995 stated that the present neoliberal ideology and economic system constitutes a status confessionis for the churches like fascism and apartheid in the 20th century. How do we deal with this challenge?

1) Status confessionis is an ecclesiological expression in the churches of the Reformation. It is used for issues that demand a clear decision because they touch essentials of the Gospel and the very being of the church. Different ecclesial traditions express the same necessity for decision in different biblical ways and symbols like eg living and staying faithful in the covenant of God (eg Baptists), drawing the consequences from being a eucharistic communion as the body of Christ (eg Orthodox) and practising radical discipleship (Historic peace churches). So the heart of the matter is the necessity to make an unambiguous corporate decision as churches for a clear witness in words, practice and church order (see the Barmen Theological Declaration, articles 2 and 3, 1934).

2) The basis for this decision can only be the clarity of the biblical foundation of the church. So we are concentrating on biblical studies showing clearly that throughout the biblical history of the people of God the Bible is advocating alternatives of life in the contexts of systemic oppression, exploitation, injustice and destruction. And this is true since the self-revelation of God as liberator from slavery (Exodus 3ff.). Prophets, law, stories of resistance and practised alternatives all demonstrate the struggle for an economy enhancing life against the forces of death. As Kairos Europa is open to all people we also started a dialogue with other faiths, eg the Colloquium 2000 "Faith Communities and social movements facing globalization" (see documentation in English, published by Warc, 2002, and in German, Junge Kirche, Sept. 2000).

3) In order to develop and practice a spirituality of resistance and solidarity in the current situation Kairos is cooperating with communities of "struggle and contemplation" like the sisters of Grandchamp and the "Religious for Peace".

4) It is also important to understand the differences and similarities in comparison with fascism and apartheid in order to help churches to join the processus confessionis. In fascism and apartheid it was intentional, visible and audible totalitarian acts that caused exclusion and murder, separation and discrimination. In the global deregulated market it is the indirect effects of the system which destroy life and cause the death of people and nature. Intentionally the system promises wealth creation as a basis for common welfare. But this creation of wealth principally excludes those who have no property or paid work and consequently no buying power. In countries where there is no social net this leads to hunger and even death. This system is methodologically not geared towards the satisfaction of the basic needs nor towards the common good but to the maximization of profit for capital at all costs. At the same time it becomes absolute ("there is no alternative") which amounts to idolatry. The more and more totalitarian character of this ideology is coupled with dogmatic policies as those of the IMF and even with military and intelligence interventions around the globe in the interest of the rich.

In western Europe we still have achievements when it comes to the social and ecological regulation of the "social market economy". But this does not preclude the taking of a clear stand, because social and ecological welfare is constantly threatened and dismantled by neoliberal globalization. Also in western Europe the struggle continues in whose interests the economy is regulated or deregulated. Here the churches' clear and unambiguous stand could strengthen the forces striving for the defence of welfare and for a life enhancing economy in the future. Kairos Europa is also involved in processes of "truth and reconciliation" because it can be shown that the refusal of repentance for historical sins like eg colonialism, fascism and apartheid has created a mechanism of repeating the historical pattern of conquest, domination and exclusion (Johan Galtung: "Fascism is western civilization in extremis").

5) Kairos Europa tries to make clear that the necessary decision of churches is not directed against persons but against a system and its structures and that the purpose of this decision is a positive one, namely to help creating economic alternatives which put life and people first.

What must the churches publicly and unequivocally reject in the processus confessionis today?

1) We suggest to reject the neoliberal ideology and practice, pressed through with ever more economic, political, military and media power subjecting all life and economy to the logic of the limitless accumulation of capital property without social, ecological and democratic obligation to the common good. Neoliberal logic and practice is effective in

systemically excluding those who do not own property nor are allowed to do paid work
systemically exploiting those who are given paid work
subjecting municipal and public basic services like water, energy etc. to the logic of capital accumulation (privatization)
regarding ecological care only as costs which must be avoided as much as possible thus destroying the life options of future generations
declaring all these negative consequences as non-intentional indirect effects (collateral damages) thus confusing people about who is responsible

2) We also suggest to reject all religious, mostly individualistic forms of piety and faith that - directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously, passively or actively - legitimize the neoliberal ideology (the logic, spirit and practice of limitless accumulation of capital property through deregulated market mechanisms) and its absoluteness implemented by imperial power. This type of faith and theology contradicting the clear witness of the Bible is most prominent in the USA but - mostly hidden - also in western Europe.

What practical steps can churches take in order to make their confession credible?

They can change their statutes so that their reserves will not just be invested profitably but also with social and ecological responsibility;
Churches can withdraw their money from all commercial banks engaging in speculative financial transactions for pure property accumulation on the transnational markets (mostly coupled with tax flight and tax dumping), invest their money in their own cooperatives or local and regional banks that do not operate on the world market, or in alternative banks with interest rates not over the growth rate of the real economy and which invest responsibly in social and ecological causes.
Churches can sell all their stocks in companies which make their profits by the rules of the global market, ie without a commitment to society and life. Instead the churches should invest only in projects within the ecologically responsible social economy, ie in those economic activities which do not offer work-free profits at the expense of the working population and the environment.
Churches can also call upon their congregations and members to do the same regarding banks and companies.
The question of the church's landed property could also be developed similarly.

Alliance building for the political promotion of an economy serving life

Many people and organizations in civil society have grasped the signs of the time and become active. For example, Kairos Europa together with WEED (World Economy Ecology Development) and Pax Christi called for the forming of a network for the democratic control of financial markets in Germany in January 2000. The answer was overwhelming. The network, since 2001 renamed in Attac-Germany (in cooperation with Attac in France and elsewhere), has now more than 7,500 members and 130 regional groups. Many organizations have joined: NGOs and trade unions, but also church-related organizations like the Reformed Alliance (Reformierter Bund), the organization of Protestant academics, etc. It is crucial that congregations, synods and churches form alliances with these social movements - a key objective of Kairos Europa (see the European Kairos Document, published in English by Sarum College Press, in German by Junge Kirche in 1998, translated into 11 other languages). Only by concerted efforts of civil society will there be sufficient clout at national and international levels to open political space for regulating the economy in the service of life - against the ideology that the markets will produce welfare by themselves. For western European churches it is very important to realize that there are strong forces in the EU which press for more liberalization and deregulation, eg in the context of the WTO, in contradiction to the social traditions in Europe. The churches in cooperation with the movements have many possibilities at all levels:

1) The churches in western Europe can call upon their governments (and where appropriate the European Union) to end their present neoliberal policies regarding the global market. In order to concretize and strengthen this vital and constitutional transformation of politics over and against economic interests they can join the demands of civil society movements, above all

the consistent combating of speculation on the financial, particularly currency markets, with instruments like the Tobin tax, capital flow controls and regulation of derivatives;
the prevention of tax avoidance and consistent combating of tax flight at the national and international level, since the withdrawal of tax harms the common good not only directly but also indirectly, through the resultant public debt;
the reintroduction of visibly progressive taxation of incomes from entrepreneurial activity and assets in the sense of the constitutional commitment of performance-related contributions to the common good, and the extension of this system to the global level;
the ending of the monetarist policy introduced in 1979 and re-regulation of the interest rate on the transnational markets in order to adjust real interest to the level of real growth;
the promotion of municipal and cooperative ownership at the local and regional level, in order to give the people there the opportunity to organize production and services to satisfy their basic needs in the context of their respective ecological and cultural conditions;
consequently to immediately end the GATS negotiations in the WTO setting that aim to privatize public services; the privatization of water supplies has particularly fatal consequences since in the poorer countries transforming water into a means of accumulating capital property excludes the poor from the most fundamental human right, the quenching of their thirst by drinking water; but also energy, health, education services are in danger of being subjected to the capital logic;
rescinding the TRIPS agreement on the patenting of intellectual property regarding seed and life-forms, in particular the protection of people and their genes from patenting, in order to prevent the monopolization of life and the threatening world food crisis and the commercial manipulation of the future of humankind;
moving environmental goods into public trusteeship or cooperative common ownership with strict social and ecological requirements for any economic usage;
linking private productive property to strict criteria of social usefulness and the participation in decision-making by the employees and other stakeholders, and particularly promoting investments in the production of simple, durable utility goods;
the immediate abolition of the structural adjustment policy of the IMF and World Bank, which in order to pay interest to capital owners plunges whole societies into poverty and misery, plus the cancellation of all illegitimate debts;
the phased restructuring of the international system into democratic institutions in the framework of the UN, which needs to be reformed accordingly.

2) Should the governments continue not to implement the constitutional commitment of property to the common good in the direction they have indicated and continue via capitalist, global market mechanisms to cut back on this central constitutional provision, the churches can announce that they are taking appropriate legal action, eg appeal to the federal constitutional court (in Germany) in conjunction with social movements and other groups concerned.

All these demands and proposals are meant to get the economy and, specifically, the markets to serve the self-reliant life of all people, present and future, and of the Earth. They are intended to free the economy from the compulsion to transform people, their cultures and the Earth with its rich resources into a means of accumulating private capital property, a process which is leading indirectly to the destruction of all life and hence to self-destruction. These demands and proposals are not intended to lay down the law. They are meant to show the direction and the goals which the different churches in the processus confessionis can use to develop the demands that suit their respective context. Everything they undertake along these lines will contribute to promoting public awareness and the necessary processes of reflection and transformation. Above all, however, it will strengthen the struggle of the victims of the system in the perspective of the good news to the poor.