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” “” “"The diversity of the Eastern and Western traditions will promote” “European culture… so one should speak not so much of an ” “‘enlargement to the east’ as of a ‘europeanization’ ” “of the whole continental area"” “” “
“Europe in the thought and work of John Paul II” is the theme of the 3rd international Forum promoted by the Alcide De Gasperi foundation. It will be held in Italy’s Chamber of Deputies in Rome on 22 February. The Forum aims to highlight “the support and encouragement given by John Paul II to the process of European unity, ever since he was a member of the Polish episcopate under the Communist dictatorship and exhorted young intellectuals and manual workers to look with trust and hope to the formation, in the West, of the European Community in freedom”, explains the president of the Foundation, Senator Angelo Bernassola. The Forum will comprise four sessions of work. The main speakers will include the Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, Cardinal Achille Silvestrini; the Senator for life Giulio Andreotti; the vice-president of COMECE (Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Community), Msgr. Attilio Nicora; and the Under-Secretary of the Holy See for relations with States, Msgr. Celestino Migliore . To the latter Sir Europe put several questions. How could the “European policy” of John Paul II be described? “To give a definition of John Paul II’s European policy would be to risk impoverishing and reducing a vision that is neither wilful not schematic, but attentive to various important factors such as history, traditions, values, religious and cultural heritage, and above all the good of the European peoples, what the Pope calls the “European common good””. What is his vision of European unity? How important is the fact that he comes from a country of Eastern Europe? “He explained this himself when, on visiting Vienna in 1998, while Austria was just about to assume the revolving presidency of the European Union, he declared: “I hope that steps may be taken that may serve to bring the east and west of the continent closer together: the two lungs which Europe cannot do without if it wants to breathe. The diversity of the eastern and western traditions will promote European culture… so one should speak not so much of an ‘enlargement to the east’ as of a ‘europeanization’ of the whole continental area””. In what does the Holy See’s commitment to the realization of this “European policy” of the Pope consist? On what principles is it founded and into what concrete actions is it translated? “Among the principles enunciated on various occasions by the Holy Father, I would point out the following, in particular: First, the common European good. In the conception that the Catholic Church has of the common good, that does not mean just the democratic composition of the interests of groups and individuals; it contains an important reference to the ‘perfection’ to which each person and each society is called. Second, the overcoming of national self-interest, in such a way that the European Union may be as extensive as possible. Third, subsidiarity, a principle indispensable for the recognition, promotion and interaction of the various cultural, social and religious identities of the European peoples. And fourth, the safeguarding of human rights: rights that cannot be claimed against the nature of man, but can only derive from it. It may be said that the Holy See has assiduously and actively accompanied the work of the European institutions ever since their birth. It maintains a permanent Mission at the Council of Europe, an Apostolic Nunciature at the EU; it is a participant in the Conference and is now a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)”. giovanna pasqualin traversa
