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Two images perhaps better than any others sum up the turning point represented by the “Semaine sociale de France” the social week of French Catholics – held in Lille from 23 to 26 September: Europe and youth.The “pride without arrogance” of being European citizens, the message of peace and justice that comes from the efforts of the founding fathers, the conviction that the European Union project is also a project for the world, the consciousness that Christians cannot absent themselves from the centres of thought and action, the recognition that alongside the 25 member countries there exists a twenty-sixth formed of 20 million unemployed, the consciousness of the challenge that the political union poses to Christian unity, the exercise of memory as a duty, and the rediscovery of martyrdom as a still relevant way also in the political and social environments of our time: these are just some of the thoughts that passed through the heads and hearts of the over 4000 delegates present in the “Grand Palais de Lille”.What kept them united was the appeal not to be afraid of diversity and to foster the realism christian that prevents dreams remaining suspended in a limbo. The meeting took place against the background of the message of the Pope, who also for Europe identifies and proposes paths to holiness in the demanding tasks of social and political commitment and urges Christians “not to shirk their mission”.The Social Weeks, it was underlined at the centenary week in France, will become increasingly European not so much because they will have a European theme on their agenda as indeed is already the case but because the consciousness is now rooted and diffused in Christians that there cannot be a future for their own country decoupled from the future of Europe.That this is not an obligatory or enforced passage but one of freedom and sharing will also depend on the contribution of thought and action that Christians are able to give, by appealing to that “Word par excellence” that Michel Camdessus recalled in his opening address to the centenary Week.The other image is that of youth. They were there in large numbers. A large part of them came from other European countries, but the desire for a stronger involvement was evident in them all.A poster stuck up on the notice board in the foyer of the “Grand Palais” said so loudly and clearly, and with great respect for the extraordinary French experience.The response of the organizers was prompt and Camdessus himself recognized in the sensibility of the young the sign of an important turning point: he sensed the strong desire for a new communication between the European generations.The message of the young, moreover, clearly expressed their willingness to conceive the European project also as a project at the service of peace and justice in the world.If there were those who previously declared that the young are “more planetary than European”, today they would be led to say that “the young are planetary because they are Europeans and Europeans because they are planetary”.And all this without abandoning their “proud and not arrogant” belonging to their own home country.
