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Pentecost can save Europe. Two building sites are open in the Old Continent: that of the building being constructed on the foundations of personal egoism and that being built by seeking the will of God. What St. Augustine wrote, centuries ago, in the De Civitate Dei is being re-echoed in our time. In that book Augustine had prefigured two cities: Babylon, which sought personal self-affirmation, and Jerusalem, the city of God.Another brick was added to “Babylon” just a few days ago. It was added by the European Parliament, which approved the funding of research on embryonal stem cells. This represents a clear victory of personal egoism, the profit motive and economic logic. The outcry of the Church in support of the dignity of the human person and in defence of life, from its conception to natural death, was not enough. It is a brick that is added to other laws that subvert fundamental institutions such as the family, and that have been approved in various European countries with clear Christian traditions. What city, Jerusalem or Babylon, do we wish to construct? And how?Let us think of Europe, consisting of various nations and different languages. Rediscovering the meaning of Pentecost can save the Old Continent. As European bishops, priests and laity we are invited to make Pentecost, the overwhelming experience of God’s love, live again. How can we build a new Europe based on the example of the heavenly Jerusalem? How can we evangelise if we do not let the gifts of the Spirit enter into us and if these do not change our life in the first place? According to the example of the apostle Peter, let us express to the world first of all the kerygmatic annunciation, i.e. the great works that God has made for us. Only after the kerygma comes the didaké – moral life, the precepts. There’s no other way. People of every nation were present in the early Church and each felt it could speak in its own language. Having received the Holy Spirit, the apostles began to proclaim the great works of God. They did not think of making a name for themselves. They did not seek their personal glory or power. Instead, they proclaimed the Gospel of Charity for the good of all men. And because of this everyone understood. God was at the centre of their life. The first effect of Pentecost is the re-opening of communication between God and man as a new beginning of everything. On 24 June, the general secretaries of the European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) will meet in Ljubljana, in Slovenia, to find possible ways of proclaiming the Gospel in the Europe of our time. The question returns: how can our Christian communities live the Gospel and illuminate those who have lost contact with their faith and who do not believe? The Holy Spirit has the ability to bear witness and give a strong impulse so that greater wisdom be shown in decisions aimed at the good of Europe.
