Sentinel and workshop ” “

John Paul II and Benedict XVI have repeatedly said that the Catholic Church is called to offer a “specific contribution” to the integral growth of Europe. Although she is very sensitive to cultural, social and political questions, the Church is called to proclaim the Gospel, to proclaim a Presence in the life and thought of Europeans: this is our specific contribution to the “common home”. Between crisis and responsibility. Mons. Aldo Giordano, from 1995 to 2008 CCEE general secretary (Council of European Bishops’ Conferences) from 2008 to 2013 permanent Observer of the Holy See at the Council of Europe, reiterates in a book-interview with journalist Alberto Campoleoni that “another Europe is possible” thanks to the specific contribution of Christians. This belief, for Msgr. Giordano – who on December 14 will be consecrated bishop and will leave for Venezuela as apostolic nuncio – is the leitmotif of the two-hundred-page book (“Another Europe is Possible”, San Paolo ed.s 2013) which draws a comparison between themes and problems that are at the heart of all those who reflect with intellectual honesty on the task and the destiny of Europe. “We’re experiencing a period of crisis, judgement and choices, as indicated in the Greek etymology of the word ‘crisis’. It is a time entrusted to our own responsibility”, and in this situation, said Msgr. Giordano, “the Church is aware that she is called to address not only a technical, political, economic, and social solutions. The Church knows that she is called to be ‘sentinel’, to act as the ‘social conscience’, on the grounds of her nature as ‘expert’ in God and humankind. That’s why the Church aks to be present in the public sphere”. The reference is thus to the debate on the Christian roots of Europe, which by giving in to ideologies has refused to consider the ‘founding content’ of the request of the Church, which certainly was not asking for a preferential pathway. The episode highlighted “the present ignorance of Christianity and the circulation of too many false faces of Christianity”. Thus we have minimised, if not tolerated, the discrimination against Christians in Europe that undermines religious freedom. Not to get lost in history. It’s more than ever necessary and urgent to understand, reiterates Msgr. Giordano, that “the first task as a Church in Europe is to indicate the Star par excellence: the crucified and resurrected Jesus. From Him stems the righteous path, shunning dangerous misinterpretations of historical development”. The Church, just like faith, is not an abstract element, nor is it a private fact. The Church is a presence in history and in current events. There derives that “an important contribution of the community of faithful is to create across society an increasing number of new workshops for the common good. In the front lines we find lay Christians, called to be the experts in the social doctrine of the Church and the protagonists of civil society”. For European Catholic laity it is an encouragement and an appeal that will be reiterated next week with the European Social Days that follow the first Social Week at continental level held in Danzica in 2009. Cultural project and spirituality. In order to contribute to the growth of Europe, according to Msgr. Giordano, “there is the need for a major cultural project at European level, inspired by Christianity. It is equally urgent to recover unity of knowledge, thereby countering a tendency to fragmentation”. The cultural commitment, just like any other commitment, cannot merely respond to the quest for identity and future of Europe. For this reason Giordano points out that for the Church “the primary concern should not be at the level of projects or planning, but rather the awakening of a nostalgia for the infinite and for its beauty”. Time for humilitas. Also the Pontificate of Francis is at the heart of the reflection of Msgr. Giordano, who describes it as “a historical event that invites Europe to view itself from another angle, from a different perspective”. The Pope is telling Europe that “the time of humilitas has come. It is a time for Europe to recover its great tradition and to recognize its own tragic errors and its sense of loss, and to seriously reflect on the contribution of other world religions”. Is another Europe possible? It certainly is, concluded Msgr. Giordano, provided that Europe does not remove Christianity from its bosom since in it we find “the roots of our most authentic concepts of freedom, equality and fraternity”, along with “our vision of the dignity of the human person”.