Immovable roots

Blessed John Paul II has greatly contributed to the unification of Europe. This should be remembered, especially on May 9, marking the Day of Europe. On May 9 1950 the then French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, drawing inspiration from a hypothesis by Jean Monnet, launched the proposal of a Community based on the production of coal and steel, which initiated the establishment of the Montan (coal and steel) Union that lay the grounds of the present European Union. Robert Schuman, the Catholic statesman that is nearing beatification, was certain that a new Europe had to repose on economic and spiritual foundations. However, few people know that Austria gave a major thrust to the creation of a spiritual Europe. In his three pastoral visits of 1983, 1988 and 1998, Pope Wojtyla provided significant insights linked to Austria’s geographic position in central Europe, in the heart of the Continent. It was precisely from Vienna that the Polish Pope affirmed that Europe had to breathe with “two lungs”, the “Western” and the “Eastern” lung. John Paul II repeatedly underlined that Europe extends beyond its geographic borders. His Holiness’ homily during Vespers at the Heldenplatz in Vienna during his visit of September 1983 had a prophetic force. Six years before the “breakthrough” John Paul anticipated a larger Europe, capable of overcoming Yalta’s partition. On that occasion the Pope said: “Unfortunately not all of Europe is free from foreign dictatorship and from the violence of war, free from the risk of an external threat, nor have serious internal conflicts disappeared”. He thus underlined that Europe is one. John Paul II said: “Let us entrust it to the symbol of the Cross of Christ, the Lord of all history because his Cross is truly hope and salvation! Through his Cross life won over death. Austria is a plurality of peoples who lived side by side in a small area, not without tension, but forging with creativity their multiplicity into unity. This Austria is the mirror and model for Europe”.On several occasions, during his visit to Austria in 1988, John Paul II called for a new evangelisation of Europe. As compared to 1983, this time a breach opened across the borders of the neighbouring Communist countries. Owing to ongoing negotiations between Austrian Church dignitaries and Hungarian political leaders it was possible to cross the Iron Curtain to reach Trausdorf, in Austria’s Burgenland Province. Thus it passed almost unnoticed that a year and a half before the “miracle” of 1989, thanks to the Pope a breach had been opened in the Iron Curtain. In Trausdorf, the Pope called for “a process of creative renewal for united Europe”, and underlined Austria’s role, acting “as a bridge” towards Eastern Europe. In the speech delivered at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna in 1998, John Paul II heartily advocated that the EU’s enlargement had to encompass Eastern countries. The “constructors of Europe”, still had to carry out the major task of “creating a European global area of freedom, justice and peace, to replace the island of wellbeing of West European Countries”. For the Pope, “concrete sacrifices” were needed on the part of “rich countries to equalize the inhuman disparities characterizing the level of wellbeing in Europe”. John Paul II thus urged to undertake “concrete steps to bring Eastern and Western Europe nearer. These are the two lungs that Europe needs to breathe”. A few days ago Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Foundation, said that John Paul II provided a major contribution in overcoming the divisions afflicting Europe. The ex- president of the EU Parliament said that the role of the Polish Pope in the collapse of Communist dictatorship “will never be sufficiently lauded”. John Paul II has shown Europe the path leading to the recovery of its identity, and therefore leading to the recovery of its soul. “As a Slavish Pope he considered it his duty to make visible the spiritual unity of Christianity across Europe”. John Paul II knew that the Continent’s unity can not exist without a reflection on the soul of Europe. John Paul II clearly indicated the path for the rediscovery of European identity in 1982, during the visit to Santiago de Compostela, the symbol of the unity of Europe. From here, during a major “Festival of Europe” he addressed an appeal to the old Continent to revive its own roots. John Paul Ii was the first to mention the “Christian roots” of Europe. Since those distant days in 1982, the image of the Christian roots of Europe has always been present in public debate. At the same time, Pope Wojtyla never questioned the fact that Europe’s borders were to extend beyond. He knew that for the Spaniards and the Portuguese, for the British, the French and the Russian populations their language and cultural borders extended beyond the borders of the European continent. Once again, John Paul II made Europe understand that it will never be a “fortress” tuned in on itself…