“The request for a reference to Christianity in the preamble to the European Constitution as foundation of the Spirit of Europe is not a demand for self-testimonial, still less a distortion of the faith: it is on the contrary a way of rendering honour to our history and our civilization”. So says the message that Christodoulos, archbishop of Athens and Greece, has addressed to members of the European Parliament. “What the Church of Greece desires explains Christodoulos is not what the Constitution ought to include, but what type of Union we wish to construct”. “What we ask adds Christodoulos is that Europeans do not feel strangers in their own home and that the European spirit be not quenched”. Preserving and supporting the civilization of Europe with the qualities and the values that characterise it: that is the task of the Church, “and it is an honour for us to assume it”. To this end, the archbishop expressed his willingness to collaborate “as closely as possible” with the other European churches and confessions.
