“It’s impossible to imagine Europe without Christianity. Europe without Christianity would no longer be Europe. It has become a platitude to say that Europe has a need for a soul. The European soul is Christianity itself”: so write the bishops of the Slovene Episcopal Conference in a pastoral letter to the faithful read out in all the nation’s churches on 25 April. “With the enlargement of the European Union says the letter we are entering a community of nations and peoples, whose fundamental values are Christian in origin. Our fundamental values, too, those that have helped us to survive as a people, derive from the same Christian roots. They are the values that will unite us to the other European peoples also in the future. Together with us, some other Slav peoples are also entering the EU. So Europe will begin to breathe with both lungs, that of East and West, as wished by Pope John Paul II”. “Christianity continues the document is the religion of hope, hope in life, in eternal happiness, and in the achievement of brotherhood between all mankind. The foundation of this hope is the Risen Christ. A life lived in coherence with the Gospel is the safest pledge of approaching universal brotherhood already here on earth, in united Europe”. “As European Christians say the Slovene bishops we will only have something to say to the world if we draw from our rich spiritual heritage. We realise that entering the European Union does not just involve positive factors. For some, especially at the beginning, there will be further difficulties. New dangers are also looming on the horizon. Therefore the bishops conclude it is essential that we Christians, together with all citizens of the Republic of Slovenia, reinforce our national identity, love for our country, love of life, mutual bonds and solidarity”.
