Europe’s urgent situation

In the post-war period, Catholic citizens, Christian Democrats in particular, were the thinkers and the movers of a radically new Europe, a unit that conveyed peace, and that was based on the States’ free adhesion to a new community of destinies, and on the principles of democracy. In this framework, politicians and statesmen such as Alcide De Gasperi in Italy, Konrad Adenauer from Germany, and Frenchman Robert Schuman, who had been nourished by the Gospel, were gifted with profound far-sightedness, with a high conception of history, of the past, and of the future. They had decided that the war would no longer be an insurmountable fatality and that from that moment onwards it would be rejected. Encouraged by the pontifical Magisterium of Benedict XV, Pius XI and Pius XII, which helped an entire generation of Catholics acknowledge the Word of the Gospel and its impact on human relations, a widespread commitment in favour of united Europe gained grounds. The ideal thrust, triggered by the two World Wars and by the Shoah, was under everyone’s eyes to see. In 1950, the European home, established by the renowned Schuman Declaration of May 9, undertook an economic and technical path with the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). The target was clear: to erect an unprecedented political entity that would bring together nations that had always been at war with each other. This difficult path had to entail the reconciliation between France and Germany, that many deemed impossible, but which was implemented with a determined political will, that never questioned this reconciliation. Today we are aware of the success of this politics. But alas, Political Europe was never created. Although the 1954 project paved the way to economic development, it was a failure due to its increasingly complex and technical features – from the Common Agricultural Policy to the establishment of the single currency – whereby powers were placed in the hands of officers and technocrats, thus stripped of a political direction. This evolution contributed to the friction between peoples and to the erection of a Union (replacing ‘Community’ – a significant terminological choice). Unity does exist, we witness it every day with the euro, but it didn’t succeed in creating a European conscience. It has remained fragile, since while economy is a factory of unity, it can also be a factor of unexpected divisions when interests differ: national egoism lingers on. Today, the crisis of Europe is evident. It was highlighted by the outcomes of the 2005 and 2008 referendums in France, The Netherlands and Ireland. The crisis affects European conscience and Europeanism that fails to mobilize peoples, entailing the crisis of the self-absorbed institutions. However, this crisis is fomented also by the Catholic crisis of Europe. Despite the Magisterium’s ongoing incitement, Catholics’ estrangement from Europe is perceivable. Catholic citizens, traditionally upholders of European unity, are now expressing their doubts and their euro-scepticism. Christian democratic thought waned, due to the recurring neglect of the social doctrine of the Church and the achievements of market social economy, to the benefit of the mirage of liberalism. Many Christians are perplexed when they are called to address a technocratic building that is ever more distant from its peoples. In his comments on Ireland’s no-vote, Cardinal Sean Brady, archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland, remarked: “Some of those who were previously enthusiastic about the founding social and economic objectives of the European Union, are now expressing their malaise. […] It has become more difficult for Christians to preserve their inborn commitment in favour of the European project”. A few years ago, Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission, urged to give Europe a soul: his words weren’t heeded. This is the problem. This is Europe’s urgent situation.