Europe and the Americas together

“Revitalizing hope in men and women in Europe and in the Americas” is the objective of the VI European University Day, promoted by the Ccee, that will take place in Rome on March 1st to the presence of Pope Benedict XVI. The International Conference, which precedes the audience with the Pope, is an occasion for meetings and exchanges of experience between University professors of the Americas and of Europe. To open new paths of research and cooperation between Atheneums in the education of new generations and to plan cultural prospects for the creation of a just society in solidarity with others. University students are called not to disperse the unique cultural tradition of the two continents and initiate a new season of communion for the good of mankind. The topic of the meeting, “Europe and the Americas together to build a civilization of love” offers the occasion to reflect upon the historical and cultural bonds uniting the two continents; in particular the role which Christianity played – and will still continue to play – for the identification of new paths of progress and development. The tie between Europe and America doesn’t only concern the economic and social sphere since it affects the Peoples’ innermost fabric. It’s a spiritual and cultural tradition which has been marked by the effort of bringing together faith, truth and reason. This outlook consolidated the relations between the Peoples of the two continents throughout the centuries. After the events of the 20th century, it risks loosing its meaning and the creativity which both Europe and the Americas strongly need. The creation of a civilization of love is the concrete expression of hope, representing the specific vocation of the two continents which have lived the experience of a Christian community and of modernity. The progress made until today, and especially the communion between the peoples of the two continents, are decisive in responding to this vocation which the whole of humanity looks up to with great expectations. The birth and the development of modernity in Europe and in the American continent awaits an adequate answer. The proposals, sometimes with dramatic outcomes, which spread from Europe to the Americas and then to the entire world, shouldn’t call into question the anthropological approach which developed throughout the centuries. Modernity, long before being a “thought”, is a reality: the reality of man who wishes to be a creator, and therefore also the protagonist. Without entering into the debate on the role played by Christianity in the birth of modernity, we cannot but agree with philosopher Habermas when he says that “Christianity didn’t only act as the catalyzing force in regulatory self-conscience”. Christianity is the point of departure enabling the Peoples of the two continents to find the most appropriate ways to look and plan their future with a feeling of hope. The Enciclical Spe salvi places the foundation for the erection of an enterprise which some deem impossible: the re-creation of a new bond between modernity and Christianity; since Christian hope doesn’t belong to ultimate expectations. It is the “new foundation of life” in which man can identify his expectations in their historical and existential concreteness. The civilization of love is the true expression of Christian hope. To bring together Europe and the Americas means revitalizing the hope of Christian communities and of all men of good will, and placing the cornerstone of a new cultural approach which will instill new life in the Christian and social life of Peoples.