“Wherever hatred, racism and contempt are fuelled, the Church cannot be in agreement”: the point was forcibly made by Msgr. Amédée Grab, bishop of Chur (Switzerland) and president of the CCEE (Council of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe), replying to the questions of journalists about the results of the first round in the French presidential elections, which led to the leader of the extreme right Jean-Marie Le Pen emerging as the candidate who will contest the forthcoming run-off with the incumbent Jacques Chirac. “The Church said Msgr. Grab, during the press conference introducing the work of the 10th Symposium of European bishops, which opened in Rome on 24 April works in the various European countries and according to the social contexts in each. But today there is a growing uniformity of problems, such as the risk of threats and throwbacks to the past. The Church cannot suppress the influence of very widespread and powerful interests and pressure groups. In spite of the intensive activity of the Christian communities, which may be an ideal remedy to these throwbacks, certain theories develop just the same in a damaging and dangerous fashion”. On the possibility that Christians too might have voted for Le Pen, Msgr. Grab commented: “Secular and temporal realities need to be illuminated by the light of the faith, but in the particular choices they make Christians must draw a distinction between, on the one hand, what the faith prescribes as rules of conduct and, on the other, opinions, which may be open to question. Otherwise Christians would all belong to the same party”. The defence of values, he stressed, “is a commitment that the Church has always made but it’s our duty to do still more”. With regard to the theme of the Symposium “Youth of Europe in the process of change. Laboratory of the faith”, Bishop Grab recalled the common objective “of conducting a real laboratory of faith with the young that may put together their aspirations and their sufferings”. “We bishops want to be understood and listened to by the youth of the 21st century”, he said. Scope will also be given, at the symposium, to the ecumenical dimension a delegation of the KEK, the Council of the European Churches, will also be present with moments of dialogue on the ecumenical Charter (signed in Strasbourg last year), in the hope that it may make a contribution to the work of the Convention for the future of Europe.
