A positive “Yes” to Europe

Euro-scepticism does not form part of the Christian’s vocabulary. While the European Constitution remains in a situation of stalemate, a decided “yes” to Europe, vanguard of communion between peoples, has come from Stuttgart, where over 10,000 people, representing 240 Christian movements and new communities – Catholics, Evangelicals, Lutherans, Orthodox and Anglicans – met on Saturday 12 May for the second meeting of “Together for Europe” (the first was held in 2004). “Our diversities – says the final statement – represent not a motive for fear or separation, but a source of enrichment”. The hope that the meeting would lead to a reinforcement of the “desire for communion” and “help remove prejudices and overcome nationalism and historical barriers” was expressed in the message sent to Stuttgart by BENEDICT XVI. The Patriarch of Constantinople, BARTHOLOMEW I , spoke of the opportunity offered “to all Christian confessions to bear witness to the hope that is in them”. According to ROWAN WILLIAMS, Archbishop of Canterbury, the major challenges of Europe include “spiritual stability” and the search for “a centre of shared vision for the continent to look to”. ECUMENICAL DIALOGUE, GUARANTEE OF PEACE. A responsibility for the Christians of Europe is born from the gift of the Gospel. “God has a dream and you are a part of this dream. The Gospel gives a sense of purpose and hope: this is something we need in Europe”, said Cardinal WALTER KASPER , President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity. Citing John Paul II and his invitation to a “spirituality of communion”, Kasper emphasized that the movements and communities of the various Christian confessions represent a new opportunity to express this unity, which is also a “guarantee of peace, and not only for Europe”. FROM STUTTGART TO SIBIU. Words of encouragement also came from Pastor JEAN-ARNOLD DE CLERMONT , President of the CEC (Conference of the European Churches). “Ours – he said – is a great project: turning the Christian faith into one of the mainstays of a more peaceful and just continent”. The experience of Stuttgart is placed in perfect continuity with the theme – “The light of Christ shines upon all” – chosen for the Third European Ecumenical Assembly due to be held in Sibiu, in Romania, in September. “I invite you – said Clermont – to manifest this light in your life, without forgetting the poor, the immigrants, the prisoners and the disabled. Let us turn Europe into a land of freedom and hospitality. Let us look our world in the eye, to communicate to it our hope and the strength that springs from our prayer”. FOR A CULTURE OF COMMUNION. Even if the world seems immersed in a “night” of values, building a culture of communion is possible, so long as we proceed together, insisted CHIARA LUBICH , one of the main supporters of “Together for Europe”, in the message she entrusted to Bruna Tommasi (the founder of the Focolare Movement was not able to be present in person at Stuttgart due to reasons of health). “God no longer seems to us, especially to us in Europe, the interlocutor to whom to address ourselves to solve the problems we have at heart – points out Chiara Lubich -. Yet God is not absent from history. Each movement is a response to the collective night that dominates the world. Each Christian can make his/her own typical contribution to a culture of communion… And its effectiveness will be all the greater if each works together with others, gathered together in Christ’s name”. A “VISION” TO WHICH TO DEVOTE OURSELVES. “There are those who lament that visions to which to devote ourselves are lacking in our time. But that’s not true. Perhaps we fail to see them, because we walk with our eyes cast down”, said ANDREA RICCARDI of the St. Egidio Community. “If the institutions are hidebound, if the processes are slow, if politicians are hesitant – he added – we European Christians must have the courage to promote a common European conviction to enable it to become a vital current among our fellow-citizens, Christians and non-Christians, believers or non-believers”. SIX “YES” FOR THE FUTURE OF EUROPE. The Message that the people of Stuttgart wish to re-launch to European citizens starts out from the wish to show “the fruits of the Christian roots of Europe”. On behalf of all those present at “Together for Europe”, it proclaims six “yes”, six fronts of witness for a new Europe. Yes to life, with the pledge to defend its “inalienable dignity in all its phases, from conception to natural conclusion”. Yes to the family “forged together by an indissoluble pact of love between man and woman, foundation for a society that is caring and open to the future”. Yes to the Creation, “to be defended with respectful commitment for future generations”. Yes to a fair economy and to solidarity with the poor, with an appeal to governments and to the European Union to “commit themselves with determination to the development of disadvantaged countries, especially in Africa”. Yes to peace and to responsibility towards society, “so that our cities become places of solidarity and hospitality for people of different origins and cultures”.