“A regular dialogue between the European Union and the Christian Churches” and “a clear reference to the Christian roots of Europe in the draft Constitution”: that is what is urged by various leading exponents of the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Churches, who met in Athens in recent days. The ecumenical meeting was promoted by the Orthodox Church of Greece on the eve of the 19th plenary session of the Convention on the future of Europe currently being held in Brussels. The participants included Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, and the Anglican Bishop of London Richard Chartres. “It would be inconceivable if the European Convention were not to provide a clear and specific reference to the Christian roots of Europe in the Constitution which shall define the future of the European Union in the years to come”, says a joint Declaration issued at the end of the meeting. In the view of Orthodox Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens, Christianity “ought to be recalled in the Constitution not only as the creative force of our civilization, but also as the guarantee that the Union shall be authentically European”. “The formulation” of the constitutional treaty, pointed out Christodoulos, “ought not to jeopardize religious tolerance, nor conflict with human rights, nor threaten the promotion of non-Christian citizens”. The Athens Declaration affirms that “the establishment of a regular dialogue between the EU and the Christian Churches is essential to promote a principle of equality that excludes any form of discrimination based on sex, race, national identity, handicap, or religious convictions”.
