Urgency of a path

The Church must accompany "with interest and goodwill" Europe’s integration process, aware that without Christianity the Western world "will not survive". "L’Osservatore Romano" on March 10, 2013, published the remarks of cardinal Reinhard Marx (archbishop of Munich and Freising, in Germany, and President the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community) and abstracts from cardinal- archbishop of Vienna (Austria) Christoph Schönborn’s book titled "Cristo in Europa. Una feconda estraneità".The Common good and freedom. "Communist country revolutions of twenty-year ago and recent Arab spring events – card. Marx stressed – have shown us how the desire for freedom- with the search for a new and juster order – is still today an important issue for humankind ". The cardinal also mentioned Pope John XXII "Pacem in terris" encyclical, "centered on the common good" pivotal today considering the current situation of Europe and its role in the world". The common good in Europe must be related – he highlighted- with that of the entire world in a just way". Only by so doing will the European Union "truly and deeply reach the hearts of people". "After the end of World War II and the Allies’ victory against Nazi Germany, that had almost subjugated all Europe with its cruel methods, people wanted one thing above all: peace. The desire of peace has remained unchanged, even if as the foundation of European integration its is slowly loosing its mighty strength. "Pacem in Terris" clearly highlights that true peace does not mean absence of war, but rather "that it can be built on mutual trust". If "relations among political communities are ruled by truth, justice and solidarity", then "the solid European Union will participate in achieving true peace".Urgent and inevitable unification. Today, the European Union is not just motivated by "the desire of peace". "Joint exercise of nation-states sovereignty – card. Marx added – has become for the Europeans a commandment of reason. None of the European Nations can survive alone in Europe in times of globalization". He once again mentions the encyclical of Pope Roncalli ("National economies are gradually becoming so independent that a kind of world economy is being born from the simultaneous integration of the economies of individual States. And finally, each country’s social progress, order, security and peace are necessarily linked with social progress, order, security and peace of every other country.) According to the Archbishop of Munich: " this is why in the European unification process there is a certain aspect of urgency and inevitability. Europe’s small and medium nations have an opportunity only within a large common market, whose rules must be set together (enforcing a sui generis method). In the meantime, a borderless Europe, the creation of a large territory and interconnected economic space has assigned governments the task of building a political authority with the power to impose its will". With this in mind, the cardinal added that "the Church must accompany with interest and goodwill the path which leads to a deeper European unification, by commenting and promoting it through its contribution to cultural, spiritual and religious renewal", since " an economic and political order cannot exist without a spiritual and religious foundation" .Fundamental remoteness of Christianity. Cardinal Schönborn’s book addresses the role of Christianity, which is at the same time a "remote presence" and "foundation of Europe". "On one side – he argues – Christianity represents one of Europe’s roots and at a certain level Europe’s future, in a worldwide context, depends on it"; "on the other, Christianity is for some a remote element in a world ruled by reason, enlightenment and democratic principles". The Austrian cardinal argues that "this Europe and the entire western world, will not survive without this remote element represented by Christianity. In other words, Europe can play its role in the cultures of the world only if it considers Christianity, this remote element, as an integrating part of its identity".