Always to be begun anew

We publish the second part of the homily given by Cardinal ATTILIO NICORA , President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, during the Mass celebrated in St. Peter’s on 25 March on the conclusion of the European Congress of COMECE marking the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties of Rome.The process of European integration towards forms of ever more just and fruitful unity is one of the fields where the innovative passion of Christians is called to engage with contemporary history to foster peace, justice and solidarity among the people of this unique “continent rich in contents” and make an exemplary and encouraging contribution to a new world order.It is an arduous endeavour, always to be begun anew. Giovanni Battista Montini, the future Paul VI, then Archbishop of Milan, already said so in 1958, only a year after the signing of the Treaties of Rome: “Look closely and you’ll see that this union that is taking shape and that fluctuates, from time to time, between a conclusion that seems happy and a disappointment that seems fatal, is a fragile and precarious union that seems more the product of the extrinsic forces that want it than palpitating with its own independent inner vitality.The components of this unity do not wish to surrender anything of their own sovereignty and therefore we are going towards a peace that may be equivocal, fragile and precarious. Yet only on the day when a circulation of thoughts, blood and friendship, a common culture, fuses together the various cultures that compose this Europe, which is still so disunited, will a spiritual unity be achieved. We have a need for Europe to be composed of a single soul, so that its unity be really strong, coherent and beneficial. And in this convergence of human aspirations on the spiritual unity of Europe the best-qualified exponents of those who love her will support us. Fifty years later, while institutional integration has made undoubted and fruitful progress of which we must be conscious and proud, it is just spiritual unity – always invoked and encouraged by the Popes, beginning with Pius XII – that is the dimension most exposed to crisis, to the point of making us doubt, as Benedict XVI warned us yesterday with deep apprehension, whether Europe is not experiencing a singular form of ‘apostasy’ from itself and its own genuine identity.But once again words of encouragement to newness and hope have come from the Throne of Peter: “Don’t tire and don’t be discouraged! You know you have the task of building with God’s help a new Europenone , realistic but not cynical, rich in ideals and free from ingenuous illusions, inspired by the perennial and life-giving truths of the Gospel”.”Behold, all things are become new”. The prophetic words assure us that God is mysteriously but constantly in action to shape a people that may celebrate His praises in the truth of a human experience redeemed by Christ. And in the sacramentum caritatis – today, for us, in this Eucharist – the power of divine love that forgives and that re-creates is once again placed at our disposal.Next to the tomb of the apostle Peter, whose blood was seed of freedom, guarantee of unity in communion, stimulus of witness and mission, and in the sign of his Throne that continues through the centuries to proclaim the truth of God that is also the truth of man and a sure trace for our path, we can therefore renew our spiritual, cultural, social and – in the highest sense – political commitment to building a genuine European common home open to the whole world.Dear friends of COMECE, may the Patron Saints of Europe accompany you! And accept the affection and encouragement of this brother Bishop of yours who is now speaking to you, and who, called as Cardinal deacon to preside over subsistence, on the rear front, remembers with undimmed gratitude the intensive years he spent together with you, on the front line, building the future of Europe.