“The draft preamble of the European constitutional Treaty? An act of cultural vandalism”. The archbishop of Glasgow, Msgr. Mario Conti does not mince words in criticising the absence of any explicit reference to Christianity in the draft preamble of them European Constitution. “This omission declares Archbishop Conti gives rise to a philosophical historical vacuum between the end of the Greco-Roman influence and the Enlightenment. What is lacking is the recognition of the Christian culture and roots of Europe. In its present form, the draft represents an extraordinary attempt to expel the name of Christ and of the Christian Church from the conscience of the new Europe. And as such it is profoundly dishonest in rewriting history”. This omission, according to Conti, “also repudiates the Jewish and Moslem contributions to the European heritage”. A final but no less important point is the fact that “a great civilization may be judged by the respect it shows to the poor and the sick. And European civilization in this regard has done a lot. Up till the advent of the welfare state, this service was in large part performed by the Church. Numerous religious congregations have given eloquent witness to this service by also going beyond the confines of the Old Continent”. “I hope concludes the archbishop of Glasgow that these words may help to stimulate reflection on the form of the new structures of the 25-member Europe and on the need for them to correspond to the historical reality of this Continent”.
