And yet they exist ” “

“The roots from which we grew cannot be severed”. With these words, pronounced in Polish, JOHN PAUL II commented on the approval of the European Constitutional Treaty in Brussels on the evening of 18 June. In his Sunday Angelus address on 20 June, the Pope, referring to the failure to recognize our Christian roots in the text of the new Constitution, praised “Poland, which, at the European Council, faithfully defended the Christian roots of our continent, from which the culture and the development of the civilization of our time emerged. The roots from which we grew cannot be severed”. “THE COURAGE WAS LACKING”. “Delighted by what’s written in the Treaty, but saddened by what there was no courage to write about, namely, the explicit recognition of the Christian roots of Europe. The courage was lacking to call our identity, that of the past and that of the future, by its name”, said Msgr. Aldo Giordano, secretary of the CcEe, Council of the European Episcopal Conferences, commenting to SIR on the recent approval of the European Constitution, in which no mention is made of the Christian roots of Europe. “It’s a regret not for the Churches but for Europe – says Msgr. Giordano –, a regret that Europe failed to grasp this occasion to attempt, at least symbolically, a make a qualitative leap”. Unfortunately there are still those who think that the Gospel poses a risk to the secularism of public life”. The failure to cite the Christian roots, he continues, “is disappointing because it dashes the hope there was in Europe, especially in many countries of Eastern Europe. No respect was shown for those countries that under Communism looked to the freedom of the West, also to have more breathing space for their faith. Now they feel themselves twice betrayed. If there had been this reference [to Christian roots], the majority of Europeans, especially in the East, would have felt more at home, whereas we now find ourselves within a building in which we feel ourselves only guests, if not strangers”. “Christians – Giordano concludes – are now faced by a great task. Given that religion is cited in the preamble, the responsibility of Christians is to ensure that it is not drained of significance, but given a content of life, of projects and proposals. This also goes for the values cited in article 2, such as human dignity and freedom. Article 51, moreover, opens up a wide field in which to conduct a transparent and regular dialogue with the Institutions on matters of common concern. It’s a question of putting into practice what the Treaty provides”. “A FAILED OPPORTUNITY”. Of much the same view is Comece, the Commission of the Episcopates of the European Community, which, in a statement issued by its general secretary Msgr. Noël Treanor, calls the absence of any reference to the Christian roots of Europe “a failed opportunity to build a future open to everyone on the basis of our common heritage”. On the other hand, satisfaction is expressed in the “way in which Treaty recognises and guarantees religious freedom and the role of the religious communities in public life”. “Article 51, striking the right balance between the spirit of openness between the religious and political spheres, and the just separation between them, – says Treanor – represents a new approach to the ‘governance’ of the European society of the 21st century”. In Treanor’s view, “the revised preamble represents a more balanced and exact description of the source of the values of the EU. Referring from its very first words to Europe’s cultural, religious and humanistic heritage, the Treaty emphasises the formative role of this legacy, of which Christianity plays an essential role, for the Europe of our time”. Nonetheless, he concludes, “satisfaction for the adoption of the Constitution must be combined with the determination to ensure its ratification by the 25 member states. The political leaders of the EU must assume their responsibility to inform citizens of the importance that the Treaty has for everyone”. “A REFERENCE WOULD HAVE BEEN welcomed”. “Despite the recognition of the identity and special contribution of the Churches in Europe enshrined in article 51, many Churches belonging to the Conference of the European Churches (CEC), would have welcomed an explicit reference to the Christian roots of Europe in the preamble to the Constitution”. So says a communiqué released by the Cec immediately after the approval of the European Constitution in Brussels on 18 June. “Consternation” is expressed by the emphasis given to the “increase of military capacity in the member states rather than to the prevention of conflicts as established at Göteborg in 2000”. The communiqué, however, does not fail to point out positive features of the Constitution, which is considered “an important step forward in the process of European integration”. Particular “appreciation” is also expressed about the “reinforced role of the European Parliament as far as the right to asylum and immigration is concerned”. The CEC, lastly, welcomes “the EU’s commitment to maintain open, transparent and regular dialogue with the Churches and religious communities”. GermanY: REMEMBERING OUR ORIGINS IN ORDER TO GIVE FORM TO OUR FUTURE. Cardinal Karl Lehmann, president of the German Episcopal Conference, and Bishop Wolfgang Huber, president of the Council of the Evangelic Church, commented on the agreement reached on the European Constitution in a joint declaration released on 19 June. On the reference to Europe’s religious legacies inserted in the preamble, the German Churches point out that “especially the Judeo-Christian heritage is meant” by this: therefore, they add, “we deplore the fact that the heads of state and of government failed to agree on an explicit mention of this historical fact”. Lehmann and Huber also lament the absence of “any reference to responsibility before God, which would have had the aim of underlining that any human order is inherently provisional, fallible and imperfect and that policy can never be anything absolute”. “The fact that any political order is provisional needs – they stress – to be constantly recalled and the person always restored to the centre of European policy”. It is “essential to recall the origin of our continent, to be able to give form to its future”. The Churches, however, judge the agreement reached in Brussels “an important step towards European integration to guarantee the peace and well-being of persons” and emphasise: “It is particularly significant that the new constitutional treaty clearly expresses the link to the values of the European Union”. In this way, “the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union is integrated in the constitutional text; many democratic elements are reinforced; the principle of subsidiarity is further developed”, and “the wishes constantly expressed by the Churches in this sense” are taken on board. Lehmann and Huber also regard in a positive light “the Union’s respect for the status of the Churches and the religious communities in the member states and the recognition of the Churches as partners in social dialogue”. Slovenia: “LET US NOT FORGET THESE VALUES NOW”: “We deeply regret this absence of any reminder of the Christian roots of Europe in the European Constitution, These values have been and still are very important in the construction of the 25-member Europe”, declared Msgr. Andrej Saje, general secretary of the Slovene Episcopal Conference and spokesman of the bishops. “Now, in the light of what is said in the new Constitution – he told SIR – it would be imprudent, especially for us Christians, to forget them. In article 51 the importance of transparent and regular dialogue between Institutions, Churches and religious associations is explicitly cited. That’s the point from which we should start out afresh. It’s a positive element of this Constitution”. Commenting on the position of the Slovene government to a reference to the Christian roots of Europe, Msgr. Saje recalled that “our government had expressed a position of neutrality on the question. A few months ago the president of the Slovene episcopate, Msgr. Franc Rodé, had written a letter on this issue to raise the awareness of the political authorities and public opinion. But the position of our government has not changed”. “It’s a real pity – he concludes – since it would have been important for our Churches: persecuted by the communist regimes for decades, they have always looked to the West as the land of religious liberty and expression”. CYPRUS: “A DECISION DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND”. “Now there’s a risk of Christians returning to the catacombs”. The failure to make any reference to the Christian roots of Europe in the Constitution was also deplored by Cyprus, where the Latin Vicar of Nicosia, Father Umberto Barato, has warned of a “certain kind of secularism that does not regard religious expression with favour. Here in Cyprus, moreover, the press failed to tackle these questions, passing over them completely in silence”. “It only remains for us – he concluded – to continue along our road, working for the common good, as in the past. It’s the best form of giving witness to these Christian values that Europe chose, in vain, to ignore. On Monday, 21 June I went to the presidential palace to receive a grant in support of the NGO we have set up to help immigrants in the island. It was possible to obtain this grant thanks to the law that protects ethnic and religious minorities. The fact is that, here in Cyprus, we’ve become a minority to be protected”. PolAND: “HISTORY FALSIFIED”. The reaction of the Polish Episcopal Conference to the approval of the Constitution ‘without Christian roots’ was indignant. A statement signed by Msgr. Jozef Michalik, Msgr. Stanislaw Gadecki and Msgr. Piotr Libera, respectively president, vice-president and general secretary of the Polish bishops, declares that “despite the conviction of a large part of the inhabitants of Europe, the various appeals of the Holy Father and of the Episcopal Conferences of individual states – including Poland – and contrary to the position of exponents of other Christian churches, the text of the European constitutional treaty, approved in Brussels, contains no reference to the Christian roots of our continent”. “We learn this fact with indignation – they write -. It is a falsification of historical truth and a conscious attempt to sideline Christianity, which for centuries was and continues to be the religion of a considerable portion of Europe. An ideological secularism, which has been apparent in the positions adopted by certain European governments, arouses our firm protest and concern about the future of Europe. We cannot construct a common European home by altering the past of the old continent and violently imposing a secular view on the whole of Europe”. “Due to this situation – the statement ends – we invite all men of good will to participate in a reflection on the future of Europe that is being constructed by deliberately ignoring fundamental values”. TurKEY: “no intention to exclude anyone”. “The words of the Pope are to be shared in full: the roots from which we spring cannot be severed by denying a manifest historical fact”. According to Msgr. Louis Pelâtre, vicar apostolic of Istanbul (Turkey), “the question basically revealed a deep misunderstanding: inserting a reference to the Christian roots in the preamble to the European Constitution does not mean expelling other religious experiences or threatening the secularism of the Institutions”. “That’s why – he commented to SIR – I fail to understand the negative opinion expressed by Turkey on the mention of Christian roots in the text of the Treaty approved in Brussels. The intention is not to exclude anyone: on the contrary, the intention is, in the Christian spirit, to accept others. There was a great misunderstanding. We need to dialogue more”. ENGLAND-WALES AND SCOTLAND: “SERIOUS SHORTCOMING”. “Considering that nine out of the ten new countries are Catholic and all ten Christian”, the absence of any recognition of the Christian roots in the European Constitution “was a serious shortcoming. Europe and Christianity have been synonymous right from the start”, commented Bishop Kieran Conry of the diocese of Arundel and Brighton in the south of England. Unfortunately, he added, “in England this absence of any reference to our Christian roots does not give rise to much concern because our culture is very secularised, even though as a bishop I find it very worrying”. At this point, he concludes, “It’s important that Europe should continue to recognise its own origins from Christianity and the fact that it has travelled in the footsteps of St. Paul right from the start”. “Disapproval of the fact that European leaders did not cite the Christian roots of Europe in the Constitution and concern for growing British euroscepticism” was expressed, in turn, by Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow: he is “alarmed by the intensification of a deeply rooted scepticism in the body politic and worried by British isolationism”. According to Steve Jenkins, spokesman of the Anglican Church, the lack of any such reference will be compensated by “article 51 of the Constitution where Europe is invited to engage in regular dialogue with the Christian Churches in future”. SpaIN: “dISAPPOINTMENT”. “They chose to repudiate history. I have only one word: disappointment”, said Marcos Lobato Martínez, vicar general of the diocese of Astorga. According to Father Lobato, “there are covert interests that have repudiated the evidence” and he adds: “Various church circles repeatedly urged this recognition, which failed to arrive and which no one can historically deny. I am really disappointed”. According to Sister Lucía Caram, contemplative Dominican of Manresa, exponent of inter-religious dialogue and writer, the lack of any reference to Christian roots “can spur Christians to greater commitment and annunciation”. “What concerns me is that those who profess themselves Christians really be what they profess. The best way of honouring our Christian roots is to embrace them with humility, and accept plurality and difference with joy”.