“The spiritual fight is not only experienced in the heart of our conscience but also in the public space, in connection with the challenges of contemporary world”: this was stated by Hervé Legrand, lecturer at Paris’s Institut Catholique, as he spoke at the International Ecumenical Meeting of Orthodox Spirituality that is taking place at the Monastery of Bose (until 12th) about “The spiritual fight in the Orthodox tradition”. According to Legrand, “we must become aware again of the strength of our spiritual traditions”, not just “as a phenomenon of the past but as a dynamics of the present”, not least in connection with the “structures of injustice that no personal ascesis can appropriately fight”. While “the unity of the churches must be done in truth”, however “doctrinal consensus alone is not enough”. According to Legrand, we must “increase pastoral exchanges to include the education of the clergy and the knowledge of spiritual traditions”. “In order to communicate – Legrand stated –, we must know each other, while “taking care not to turn cultural differences into evangelical differences”. At any rate, “it is inherent in the rationale of the gift not to offer unwelcome gifts nor taking hold of other people’s gifts”. However, “we can – Legrand concluded – lawfully borrow, with discernment”.