A jump in quality

As Europeans we have started the year 2007 with the perception that a jump in quality is necessary. We have the questions pertaining to the process of unification. True, this is proceeding and Europe is archiving the tragedy of the wall that divided it – Romania and Bulgaria became part of the EU on January 1st, Slovenia chose the Euro -, but along with this comes the evermore pressing question whether the EU will be capable of welcoming other members and what the EU is able to provide its members. Will the Geran Presidency of the EU bring up the debate on the Constitutional Treaty or will the question be inexorably set back? What indications will be brought up by the voting in France?We question ourselves on the relations between Europe and the other continents: what will be its contribution towards peace in the Middle East? Will Europe be capable of holding its own in the powerful political and economic emergence of China and India? How to collaborate with Africa in making it a protagonist in the world scene, overcoming the serious social problems? How to face the vast planetary urgencies concerning the environment? Other serious questions concerning the moral questions tied to life, where the reality of the human being is in play: in 2007 many European States will face debate and legislation that pertain to experimenting on embryos, euthanasia, the family. The danger is that Europe faces these questions in solitude, because it doesn’t realize that God walks on its roads anymore. Solitude is a bad traveling companion. If Heaven is closed off from the European roads, everything is played out within the limitations of the worldly and the historic. Great achievements may be attempted, but if death is the last word, where can we find a definitive meaning for our actions, the foundation of our values, a light explaining who the human being is, a basis for brotherhood among all the inhabitants of the planet? If an openness towards transcendence is missing, we risk making choices with brief horizons and will remain content with compromises with a minimum common denominator.May the year 2007 give us the courage to attempt a jump in quality to find a consensus from above, where each person can offer the deepest and truest contribution for the common good. That Christianity may find authentic and coherent witnesses and find space and comprehension to offer an improvement that may bring some surprises to a tired Europe. There are precious appointments in the agenda of the European Christians. When on March 25th Rome and Berlin will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, founding the European Community, the Episcopal Conferences of the EU States will meet in Rome to rediscover the vision and the values of the founding fathers and the meaning of European citizenship. Between September 4th and 9th, three thousand Christians from all States of the Continent will meet in Sibiu, in Romania, for the third European Ecumenical Council, to think and live the theme: “The light of Christ shines upon all”. The European and African bishops have agreed upon a series of encounters on the theme of migration to study the shared responsibility: the first meeting will be held in Ghana in November. The professors of the European universities will meet in Rome in June to reflect upon the new humanism. Solitude closes the horizons and generates fear and sadness, especially among the young. The great news is that man is not alone, because God exists, He became flesh and loves man to the point of giving His life. This is the news that may give Europe the courage to make a jump in quality.