A history and an ideal” “

“Humanism and Mediterranean” is the theme of a cycle of lectures being held by the International Association ‘Political Charity’ and begun in Rome in recent days with the intervention, among others, of OTTO OF HABSBURG (91 years old), former deputy in the European Parliament and son of Charles I of Austria , beatified on 3 October. The meeting was also an occasion to commemorate the life and work of the last Austrian emperor: “Charles of Habsburg – said Cardinal JOSÉ SARAIVA MARTINS , prefect of the Congregation of the causes of saints – was a great Christian layman. In some ways he anticipated the definition of Vatican Council II, which speaks of the common sanctity of the people of God. Due to the particular experience of his life and his charitable dedication to his fellowmen and to their conditions and situations of life, the Church now recognises him as an unique and extraordinary person”. We cite below some passages from the address given by Otto of Habsburg. THE IDEA OF ISABELLA. “Europe – said Otto of Habsburg in his intervention on the theme ‘Mediterranean: a history and an ideal’ – is now resuming its role not only in the progress of the Union, but also in the global responsibility of the continent. It is not yet complete without the inclusion of some countries of ancient European tradition such as Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Romania – not forgetting the Ukraine, Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia – but it is on the right road. The time has come to prepare a future and, in this perspective, we wish to re-propose an old European idea, that expressed by Queen Isabella the Catholic [Queen of Castile], who in her testament, recalled that the Mediterranean is not a frontier but a crossroads”. THE SPACE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. European unification, in his view, “is a part of the reality of the Mediterranean which is surrounded by three main elements, Europe, the Mashrek with Turkey and the Islamic countries that have recovered their independence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the Maghreb. The peoples of these regions have much in common, in politics, in history and also in their economies. More especially it is possible to recover a unity of cultural type stretching from Giralda to Kutubia, from the European Union to Asia Minor, from France to Libya, from Croatia to Lebanon. In this space there are things that unite more than the divisions of the past. The sanctuaries of the great monotheist religions are situated in this space, even if it would be illusory to hope that any such unity could find practical expression from today to tomorrow”. “We – continued Otto of Habsburg – have a common heritage which ought to unite us. Today there’s the fear of a diffusion of Islam aimed at creating hostility in our peoples which – as history demonstrates – is motivated by the interest of those who don’t wish Europe, and with it the community of the peoples of the Mediterranean, to resume its traditional role as a generator of culture and of the scientific and technological progress we enjoy today”. “Due to the multiplicity of its peoples and its religious tradition, we have every opportunity, on condition that, together, we are worthy of our history”. The necessary condition is that we be “patriots of our nations, but even more so of our continent and of our community. We need to understand that patriotism and nationalism are two profoundly different emotions. The patriot loves his country but is a friend of its interlocutors; the nationalist adores his country but despises others”. The journey before us is still long, but, insisted Otto of Habsburg, the possibility of recognizing the mare nostrum as a common home exists: it depends on “a formula being found for a future to some degree more probable”, and on “the reality of the life of the nations making it imperative”. PASSION FOR PEACE. Otto of Habsburg shared with his audience a personal memory of his father, the emperor Charles I, whose beatification originated “from the service he wished to render to his peoples and to his enemies in working for peace during the First World War. His initiatives met with no response, with the exception of Pope Benedict XV. He understood the sacrifices imposed on the peoples of Europe and had a genuine passion for peace. In a war that he himself had not declared, he bore on himself all the personal consequences of defeat. He who had sought peace was justly punished because of it, with the destruction of the unity of the Lower Danube, which a few years later would give rise to a major crisis: consequence of the dismemberment of a natural community. He died shortly after. On the last day of his life he said: “I have to suffer greatly so that our peoples and Europe may one day come together again’. He had faith in divine justice. We have had the joy to see a part of the peoples of the Lower Danube come together again in the European Union and recover the freedom that most of them had lost in the catastrophe of Yalta. That is a source of encouragement to us for a future that may restore to us the peace we once knew as an ideal of Christian peace, and that promises us a splendid future within a united Europe ready to enlarge its community to the nations of the Mediterranean”.