At close range” “

“Today Catholics and Orthodox no longer quarrel, or rather they discuss things amicably as in family disputes. Not even Rome and Moscow, besides, are so far apart as people think…”: that’s the assessment of ecumenism in Europe made by the historian Andrea Riccardi , founder of the St. Egidio Community. In an interview with Sir Europe, he describes, in brief, the “religious face” of our continent, on the eve of the intergovernmental Conference due to open in Rome on 4 October, at the centre of which will be the future European Constitution. The process of European enlargement is highlighting the relations between the countries of Western and Eastern Europe: how do they reflect on ecumenical dialogue? “I think that the question of relations between Eastern and Western Europe is crucial for the new Europe. When we speak of our continent we ought not to forget the great spiritual currents that concern not just the European Union, but also the ‘greater’ Europe beyond its frontiers. The presence and contribution of Russia, for example, is fundamental in the Europe with two lungs so dear to the Pope. So European Union, greater Europe and ecumenism are three closely connected spheres. It is increasingly vital, today, to understand that the East has a need for the West, and vice versa. Spirituality, sense of the liturgy, of prayer, attitude to contemplation, monasticism: these are some of the ‘eastern’ aspects of Christianity that we in the West ought to draw on, while offering in exchange the ‘genius’ of Catholicism, a compound of charity, missionary action and presence in the world”. Is there a specific responsibility of Christians? “Undoubtedly Christians must vigorously pose the problem of Christian identity, and of the Christian ‘roots’ of Europe. They must do so through a capacity to experience history, as well as their own vocation, as a living reality. They must not remain locked into certain kinds of provincialism, but learn to listen to the ‘great breath’ of the world, consisting not only of local dimensions but also of great frontiers, of ‘windows’ that must open on a larger horizon than that of our own back yard. The question of ‘roots’, if interpreted in this perspective, may also become vital, in the spirit of the great treasure that is the Gospel, made of ‘things new and old'”. Is not the trend, even in our continent, to relegate religion to the private dimension, and reject its “public significance”? “It’s the legacy of the secular liberal tradition that tends to turn religion into a private affair, confined to our conscience. By its very nature, on the contrary, the religious experience is not an individual experience: it also comprises public acts of worship, the life in a community, that cannot but have an impact on the real world. The Gospel precept, ‘give to Caesar what is Caesar’s’, indicates not a separation, but a diversification, between civil society and the religious community”. On what fronts can Europe become an exemplary “place” for interreligious dialogue? “First of all, on the front of immigration, where the voice of the Church must make itself heard to promote processes of integration and discourage extreme forms of nationalism or individualism. In general, the public and social role of religions, especially in our continent, consists in inspiring a constant relation between intimacy of the heart and community life, which must then be reflected in the witness we bear in the various spheres of society”.