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The multicultural revolution that is increasingly involving Europe is forcing us – unless we accept hatred, violence, material and spiritual ruin, and enter a logic of conflict – to seek a new citizenship and a new humanism as the necessary conditions for a genuine living together. John Paul II often treated this theme to trace a common ground for thought and action. In his discourse for peace of 1st January 1989 he defined two “common principles”: “In a national society composed of different human groups there are two common principles which cannot be ignored or violated, but which on the contrary must be placed at the very foundation of every social organization. The first principle is the inalienable dignity of each human person […]. And the same may be said of human groups. These groups in fact have a right to collective identity that needs to be defended in conformity with the dignity of each of its members […]. The second principle concerns the fundamental unity of the human being, who derives his origin from a single source of creation that is God […]. Unity also demands that the diversities of the members of the human family be placed at the service of a reinforcement of unity itself, instead of constituting a cause of division”. The Pope then added a very important comment to underline individual responsibilities: “The obligation to accept and defend diversities does not belong to the State or to groups. Each person, as member of the one human family, must understand and respect the value of the diversity between men and order it to the common good”. Affirming the unity of the human family means emphasising a universal vision of the world as the only prospect for the future. It is the idea of the “universal brother”, as Charles de Foucauld proposed it through the universality of love. Indeed, the value of living together depends on the quality of our relationship with those who are different, in other words, it is fostered by the daily meeting with those who are different, and strengthened by solidarity, respect, and friendship, all of them Gospel values. We need to forge personal relationships of trust, able to transform diversities from a risk or cause of conflict into a source of enrichment. Personal encounter is the way of creating the new citizenship that is now indispensable. That does not just mean being satisfied with tolerating the other person and his/her diversity. It means considering that person as our partner and co-operator in social projects. That is an eminently Christian project that goes well beyond the mere recognition and establishment of laws or rules to organize the co-habitation of a common space. We need to reconcile various demands: satisfy the recognition of specific cultural identities, maintain the unity of the nation through a collective cultural dimension able to transcend tendencies towards communalism and identify common values, and preserve the principles of democratic life. In Europe too that is not a direction easy to maintain. Much depends on external events (the strategy of terror) and the ability of politicians to handle sensitive situations without surrendering to populism or demagogy. The responsibility of believers is fundamental: they must assume responsibility for the development of a new culture, a new citizenship through a form of co-habitation able to make our cities not only inhabitable by everyone, but worthy of everyone.
