European concerns

The 56th General Assembly of the Cei, the Italian Bishops’ Conference opened in the Synod Hall in Vatican City on 15 May. The questions on the agenda include: the life and ministry of the priest; guidelines and regulations for major seminaries; preparations and programme for the 4th national ecclesial Meeting (Verona, 16-20 October 2006); and the presentation and approval of the Italian translation of the Roman Martyrology. The bishops will also discuss the introduction of the annual Day for the safeguard of the Creation; the 45th Social Week of Italian Catholics (Pistoia-Pisa, 11-14 October 2007); World Youth Day in Sydney in 2008; current projects in the field of social communications; and the involvement of the Churches in Europe also through the action of Comece. In his opening address the President of the Cei, Cardinal Camillo Ruini widened the horizon of the bishops’ concerns to the international situation, touching on various European issues. Many bishops representing other Bishops’ Conferences of Europe (Austria, Romania, Portugal, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Albania, Croatia, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and Slovakia), together with Monsignor Aldo Giordano, secretary of the Council of the European Bishops’ Conferences (Ccee), were also present at the opening session of the Assembly. OVERCOMING THE STALEMATE. Cardinal Ruini, President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, in his opening address to the 56th General Assembly of the Italian episcopate, touched on various situations giving rise to concern at the international level, such as the political difficulties in Israeli-Palestinian relations, the complicated constitutional settlements in Iraq and Afghanistan, the nuclear programme of Iran, the suffering of Africa and the threat of terrorism. Against this background, said Ruini, “the need is strongly felt for a greater presence of Europe, and in particular of the European Union, on the international scene”. “So far, however, – the cardinal continued – both with regard to the approval of the Constitutional Treaty and the realization of a common foreign and defence policy, the European Union has failed to overcome the position of stalemate that has been created: these are therefore the spheres on which efforts need to be concentrated with the aim of making the spirit of unity prevail”. The President of the CEI remarked on the fact that “especially on the part of the European Parliament, pronouncements are made that do not respect the principle of subsidiarity, or the national culture and traditions of the various member countries, and gravely conflict with fundamental truths about man”. A RESOLUTION TO BE REJECTED. In this regard Ruini cited “the case of the [European Parliament’s] Resolution of 18 January regarding homophobia in Europe, which rightly rejects the attitudes of discrimination, contempt and violence against persons with homosexual tendencies, but also calls for parity of rights between homosexual couples and legitimate families, asking member states – albeit in a non-binding manner – for a reform of their respective national legislations” to enact such parity. The cardinal recalled that “the Polish and Spanish Bishops’ Conferences have already forcefully expressed their opposition to this Resolution and we too, who have already deplored it on the occasion of our permanent Council in late January, resolutely unite our voice with theirs”. “In such attitudes of the European institutions – he declared – it is possible to glimpse not only the long wave of the processes of secularisation, but also the failure to perceive a different climate that is gaining ground in the populations of Europe, with the rediscovery of their own religious, moral and cultural identity and the fundamental values and contents” of their own heritage. NON-NEGOTIABLE VALUES. Cardinal Ruini did not fail to commemorate the Italian soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Speaking of the need to welcome and foster the birth of new lives in Italy, he repeated the Church’s condemnation of abortion, euthanasia and the use of human embryos as research material. He also reaffirmed the Church’s opposition to the “legal recognition of forms of union – such as civil partnerships – that are radically different from the family” and that “obscure its social role and concur to destabilise it”. “We know very well – said Ruini, addressing the bishops present – that this commitment of ours is often barely tolerated and seen as undue interference in the free conscience of people and in the autonomous laws of the State. But we cannot for that reason remain silent, or water down our positions. For it is our conviction, confirmed by the clear and constant teaching of the Church and supported by human experience and in particular by the great tradition of civilization of our nation, that what is at stake here is what the Pope called ‘non-negotiable principles’ (in his speech of 30 March 2006 to the representatives of the European People’s Party). They are non-negotiable especially because of their intrinsic ethical value, though this is not something abstract or aprioristic: it is on the contrary inseparable both from the great social good of the birth and education of children and from the genuine and lasting happiness of our people”.