“The Christian Churches expressly support the process of European union” and express the hope that “a reference to God” may be included in the constitutional text in course of preparation, recalling that “the European idea of being human and the basis of values” of the EU are “substantially forged by religion, in particular by Christianity”. So says a joint declaration issued on 7 June by Cardinal Karl Lehmann, president of the German Episcopal Conference, and Manfred Kock, president of the council of the Evangelic Church, on the debate on the future of Europe. According to the two presidents of the German Churches, the European Constitution ought to take on board the commitment to respect the status of the Churches, formulated in the Treaty of Amsterdam. It should also guarantee the “Churches’ right to self-determination at the European level” and expressly recognize “the particular role and positive significance of religion and the Church with a view to European integration”.
