Drawing on Europe’s Christian roots” “

“With the Holy Father, we stress the need for the role, past and present, of Christianity and the Churches to be recognized in European culture and society”, declared Cardinal Camillo Ruini, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, on opening the work of the permanent episcopal Council in recent days. Speaking of the role of Catholics, in particular Italian Catholics, in giving “new vigour to what is often called ‘the spirit of Europe’, the cardinal vicar of Rome recommended that the European peoples be helped to “rediscover the fruitfulness of the faith and of the Christian tradition, also at the human and civil level”. Taking our cue from these words, we interviewed Michael Weninger , member of the group of political advisers of the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, and responsible for relations with religions. The Pope has urged the EU to draw “new life-blood from the Christian heritage”. How can it do so? “First of all, the Churches can work together with the members of the Convention for the future of Europe within the Forum of civil society. This is an institution placed at the disposal of the communities of believers to enable them to make proposals and suggestions for constructing the Europe of the future. Secondly, we should not forget that many of the members of the European Parliament, as of the Convention, the Council and the Commission, are Christians and believers and, consequently, are the first to be called on to draw from the heritage of their faith. And thirdly, at the national level, the representatives of the individual member states in the Convention have been urged to promote meetings with the various ecclesial groups and confessions present on their own territory”. Is it possible to imagine the realization of permanent structures for promoting dialogue between the Churches and the EU institutions? “It cannot be denied that, in substance, a dialogue has already been begun between the various religious confessions and the European institutions on specific problems. Unfortunately, however, a structure, or a means, of institutionalizing this dialogue is still lacking. In this regard, I have been commissioned by President Prodi to begin a process of consultation of the various religious confessions present in Europe”. Whom have you consulted? “I have sounded out the views of the representatives of the Christian confessions, through their European organizations, and those of the Jewish communities, Moslems and the other main religions present in the continent. Up till June I will collect the proposals of the representatives of these various religious groups; we will examine them together; and then in early autumn I propose to present to the president of the European Commission a joint proposal for the creation of a permanent structure for the European institutions’ dialogue with and consultation of the Churches”. Is the dialogue with the European institutions also an occasion for promoting ecumenical relations between the Churches? “Undoubtedly ecumenical relations help the Churches to enter into relations with the European institutions in a more unified and coordinated manner. Nonetheless this is a problem of relations between the Churches that is of no concern to the EU. The European Commission is open to everyone and willing to listen to and dialogue with all the religious confessions, respecting the identity and tradition of each”. I.I.