"Wisdom" for the unity” “

The question of religious freedom, relations between Church and State, the role of the Churches in European society, the relation between religion, politics and culture, and the urgent need for Catholic and Orthodox believers to reflect on the causes that still divide the two Churches and on the impact of their own cultural traditions on societies and life-styles: these are the priorities that emerged from the international symposium: “Wisdom as source of the unity of Europe: religion, art, sciences” held in recent days at the Chamber of Deputies in Rome. The symposium was promoted by the international Study and Documentation Centre: “Sofia, Russian idea, idea of Europe” (cf. Sir no. 81/2002). Presiding over the meeting was the biblical image of Christian wisdom which elevates, and at the same time brings to fulfilment, the Graeco-Roman wisdom. John Paul II, in a message sent to the participants, expressed the hope that the symposium “would favour a constructive dialogue on the contribution made by the Christian faith to the construction of the European continent”. We present some of the ideas that emerged during the meeting. “Authentic Wisdom is that with which the Holy Father recalled in recent days that democracy fatally degenerates into totalitarianism, if deprived of the values that sustain it. The progress of the economy and finance is undoubtedly linked to the capacity for governance, but a sound economic system, an essential element and guarantee of stability of social life, cannot subsist without a strong ethical component”. ( Antonio Fazio, governor of the Bank of Italy). “Corruption, militarization of the institutions, mafia and disinformation” characterize “my country, in which a restricted oligarchy concentrate billions of dollars in their hands, while 30% of the population live in abject poverty and in the total absence of social reforms. This situation, destined to progressive deterioration, may serve as a warning to other countries never to forget that economic stability presupposes the probity of the institutions and the primacy of politics over economics”. ( Yuriy N. Afanassiev, rector of the Russian state University for humanistic sciences). “We need especially to compare our conception of religious freedom, the real mainstay of ecumenical dialogue, in the light of the common Christian heritage”; we can then “examine together the ecclesiological questions whose various interpretations have had repercussions not only on the Churches, but also on cultures. The search for a new consensus between Catholics and Orthodox, in particular on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, could represent a sign of hope for the unity of the Church and the spiritual rapprochement between eastern and western Europe”. (Card. Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for the promotion of Christian unity). “Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants” must pursue “together their common efforts to ensure that the role of religion in public life be recognized in the future constitutional treaty of the European Union”. Only “through strong reciprocal solidarity will Christians be able to safeguard their own identity and combat the ‘militant secularism’ which is raising its head here and there and risks preventing Europe from being a real home for all religions”. ( Hilarion Alfeyev, representative of the Russian Orthodox Church to the European international organizations). “Europe of the third millennium depends on our commitment to the promotion of the human person and presupposes a strong conviction in the complementarity between all peoples. The Churches feel it is their obligation to contribute to European construction; they must do so not by enclosing themselves in a ghetto but by restoring Wisdom to the public sphere and recalling the values that have constituted the foundation of civilization”. ( Bernardo Ardura, secretary of the Pontifical Council of Culture). “Christianity, ‘maternal language’ of Europe, may restore soul and conscience to the continent” on condition that “ all the Churches act as guarantors of the recognition of the right to religious freedom of each confession, even if professed by minorities, and don’t ‘make use’ of the State to deny this right in practice”. ( Herbert Schambeck, former president of the Federal Senate of Austria). Giovanna Pasqualin Traversa