Lest Europeans forget those dying for Europe

Europe is affected by a serious disease which is likely to impact the forthcoming elections of the European Parliament in May. This disease is called “populism and pessimism”. Populism and pessimism are two symptoms of the same disease: the former thrives on the fears triggered by the latter. Europeans have stopped believing in Europe, they have even reached the point of fearing Europe, its values, its identity, whose very Christian features are being denied. Moreover, recent, tragic developments should remind European citizens that Europe remains a beacon for mankind. People die every day in the name of Europe, to become Europeans or to reach European shores. For many men and women in the world Europe is the best possible world. It’s a hope. For many it’s the only possible hope. Europe is understood as bearer of peace, social justice, human rights, democracy, respect. All considered it’s seen also in terms of its economic prosperity in a world of misery. That’s why so many men and women in the world are ready to die for Europe! The latest events in Ukraine – with demonstrations throughout the winter, with tension, riots in the streets, violence of all kinds, including torture and numerous deaths – testify to the fact that the European Union, despite its limits and its economic difficulties, not to mention bureaucratic absurdities, over twenty years since the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the end of the Soviet Union, remain a model of humanity for the nations liberated from dictatorship; a role model also for those Countries seeking EU adhesion. Torn between Russia – engaged within the boundaries of an authoritarian regime, heir at the same time of the Russia of the Tsars and of Bolshevism – and democratic Europe, guarantor of fundamental freedoms, Ukrainians call for the establishment of the primary freedom of a people: self-determination. For them it all boils down to drawing closer to Europe. If we extend our glance to Lampedusa, a small island located on the most southern area of Europe, a few kilometers’ distance from Northern Africa, we will notice that it is a “doorway to Europe”, epitomizing the hope of hundreds of thousands of people who after nightmarish travels across the desert are crammed in miserable vessels, victims of poverty-exploiting traffickers and put out to sea. How many of those migrants have never reach destination, thereby transforming the Mediterranean in a cemetery? No figures are available but it is a fact that no obstacle prevents the departure of the desperate ones, which confirms that Europe represents a new opportunity for many peoples, a hope, a paradigm of civilization, as Pope Paul VI had described it. That’s why, on July 8 2013, after a new tragedy, Pope Francis intended to reawaken the consciences, thereby denouncing “the globalization of indifference”, underlining European peoples’ responsibility in general, and of Christians in particular. The deaths in Kiev and those drowned in the Mediterranean sea tell us that Europe must absolutely heal from its illnesses, discard its egoism, and keep in line with the project of its founding fathers, so as to restore its vital impulse. In 2012, in the award ceremony speech of the Nobel Peace Prize to Europe, the Nobel Committee thus motivated its decision: “The commitment of the European Union is a symbol of fraternity between nations”, whereby emerges the need to listen to the cries of the victims of Kiev and of the Mediterranean, and heal Europe from the disease of populism and pessimism, in order to proceed without fear. In fact, John Paul II, a great Europeanist, said: “Do not be afraid!”.