With a single voice” “

European bishops and pastors, Eastern patriarchs, Jewish rabbis and Moslem imams, priests and spiritual guides of various religions, but also ambassadors, university teachers, journalists, theologians, and laypeople involved in social and volunteer work: all participated in the meeting on “Religions and cultures, the courage of a new humanism” (Milan, 5 – 7 September). Promoted by the St. Egidio Community, the meeting was a providential occasion to discuss the issues of peace and terrorism, spirituality, justice, European integration, and transformations in economic and cultural life. Gianni Borsa, SIR correspondent, gathered some views. A SOUL AND STRONG VALUES FOR THE EUROPE OF THE FUTURE. “The European Union can only be constructed if it be given a soul, if it be imbued with strong and shared values, and if the path of cultural as well as political integration be pursued, also drawing on the contribution of religions”. This conviction was expressed by Monsignor LUDWIG SCHICK, a German bishop who specialises in relations with the countries of Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The Frenchman JEAN DANIEL, founder of the “Nouvel Observateur”, echoes his view: “How is it possible to achieve historic objectives with a 25-member EU? We must start out again from the ideals of the founding fathers and rediscover the action of politicians like Monnet, Schuman, De Gasperi, Spaak and Adenauer. Efforts must also be made to avoid speaking, in Strasbourg and Brussels, a language incomprehensible to the peoples of Europe”. European citizenship, which comprises rights and duties, and the implementation of the principle of subsidiarity, “can represent a solid basis for the future of the enlarged Union”, which would otherwise risk failing or proving inconclusive. According to Daniel, “European patriotism needs to be created and a proper identity given to the Community Europe”. “REJECTING VIOLENCE AND THE POLITICS OF TERROR”. “The reality, horrible and tragic, of Beslan, has profoundly disturbed me. I think each of us feels touched to the depths of his being by those innocent victims”: Monsignor ATHANASIOS CHATZOPULOS, Othodox bishop, representative of the Church of Greece to the EU institutions in Brussels, explained in these words his own state of mind at the present time. Athanasios added: “This blind terrorism worries me a lot. But I am also worried by the way terrorism is being exploited to pursue national interests, especially in the Middle Eastern area. There are local powers, but also world powers, that are working in this direction”. “I am convinced people are deliberately creating in the world a climate of terror that tends to inflame minds and finally convince them of the goodness of having recourse to violence to respond to the violence of others. The ‘politics of fear’ may lead to new and inconceivable tragedies”. MUSLIMS AND THE DEMOCRACIES OF THE “OLD CONTINENT”. In the 36 forums held during the “Religions and culture” conference one of the most debated themes was the relation between Christianity and Islam, between West and East. “For Islam Europe is an open continent, also due to its geographical proximity. But Europe still has little knowledge of us”, explains ABD AL WAHID PALLAVICINI, of the Italian Islamic community. In spite of these difficulties, European democracy has frequently been recognised as an instrument “that guarantees scope for worship for the free profession of the Islamic faith”. For the future of Islam, on the other hand, the problem exists “of developing a ruling class of imams informed about and respectful of the local and national laws of each of the European states”. GLOBALIZATION, MARKETS AND SOLIDARITY. The economic aspects were touched on, in turn, by MICHEL CAMDESSUS, former President of the International Monetary Fund and now chairman of the Semaines sociales in France, and by the Italian trades-unionist SAVINO PEZZOTTA (general secretary of CISL, Italian Federation of Trades Unions): “Now when I hear people speaking of reforms, I tremble – says Pezzotta -. With the pretext of change, the tendency is to reduce the guarantees for citizens and for workers. We cannot leave a free hand to the market, neither in Italy, still less at the world level”. The trades-union leader also drew attention to the “dangers of uncontrolled market globalization, in which the certainty of rights disappears. In response to the challenges posed to us by such giants as China, India or Brazil, we respond not by differentiating our production systems, basing them on research and quality, but by cutting costs and reducing the guarantees enjoyed by workers”.