” “The fears of the countries of Eastern Europe” “

The frontiers need to be opened, but above all it’s people’s hearts that need to be opened, because only thus will it be possible to build a Europe in which diversities co-exist and the traditions of East and West are respected. That’s the opinion of Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, archbishop major of Leopolis of the Ukrainians, on the enlargement of the European Union eastwards. The cardinal – who took part in the Day of prayer for peace at Assisi – later visited the Institute of religious sciences of the diocese of Bolzano and Bressanone, a guest of bishop Wilhelm Egger. Attention to diversity. The archbishop regards with great interest the new prospects that are being opened up to the countries of Eastern Europe and the new scenarios that are taking shape with the enlargement of the EU. “The European Union – he says – was born in a ‘corner’ of Europe, in its most western part, that has a particular tradition behind it, a tradition both ancient, based on Roman and Latin history, and recent, in the light of a very particular history. This is the matrix on which the idea of a united Europe was born and realized”. Today – adds the cardinal – it’s possible to travel without having to show one’s passport and to pay using a single currency, and “all this undoubtedly makes a good impression”. “Now – Husar points out – the intention is to enlarge this Union to central and eastern Europe”. In view of this important encounter of the EU with the European East, Card. Husar feels bound to point out that “in this part of the continent there are countries with a very different history, with a religious culture based on the Byzantine tradition, a tradition somewhat different from the Latin one”. To this it needs to be added that the countries of central and eastern Europe have emerged from a Communist period that has left “a fairly strong mark” on them. According to the Ukrainian archbishop, “these factors will undoubtedly make the enlargement of the European Union rather complex”. “Western Europe and the countries that established the EU must open themselves to the East, but how far – wonders the cardinal – will they be ready to do so? This is the question we are posing to ourselves at the present time”. Cardinal Husar notes another concern: those who live in the East – he explains – fear that “the Western countries may wish to impose a certain way of thinking, a mentality, a ‘Weltanschauung’ different from our own”. The danger of sidelining God. Fundamental for the process of enlarging the European Union will, in Cardinal Husar’s view, be religion. “Europe – he affirms – has grown on the foundation of a Christian culture, even if many people now prefer to deny or ignore this fact”. Christianity, however, entered into the life and history of peoples profoundly different from each other. One only needs to think how different are the cultural traditions of Portugal and the Ukraine, although both are countries with a profoundly Christian culture. That’s why, in the archbishop’s view, “attention needs to be paid to ensuring that this union does not become a way of seeking to subordinate one part of Europe to another. I think religion will play an extremely important role in this process”. Then there is the other challenge of the encounter of Europe with Islam. Although many people now recognize how important the role of religion is, “only two constitutions in Europe, that of Germany and that of the Ukraine, make any reference to God and to our responsibility before God. All the others avoid mentioning the matter. Now this negation, this sidelining of God is for us – Cardinal Husar stresses – a sign of a certain danger, to which we need to pay attention, once we decide to enter the European Union. We must beware lest this fundamental element of our life be sidelined”.