Within European history

On 7 March the Holy Father accepted the resignation, for reasons of age, presented by Cardinal Camillo Ruini (born at Guastalla, diocese of Reggio Emilia, on 19 February 1931), from the post as President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI) and has appointed in his place Monsignor Angelo Bagnasco, Metropolitan Archbishop of Genoa, former Archbishop of Pesaro and military ordinary for Italy. “Corresponding to the directions and desires of the Successors of Peter was throughout these years the joy of my heart as well as the first criterion that guided my actions”, declared Cardinal Ruini, who has served in the CEI for twenty years and eight months, first as general secretary (from 28 June 1986) and then as President (from 7 March 1991), in looking back at his term as CEI President. “I wish with all the bishops to proclaim the message of Christian hope to the contemporary world, as called for by the ecclesial Congress of Verona”, said Archbishop Bagnasco (born at Pontevico, diocese of Brescia, on 14 January 1943). He added that “the Church in Italy in rooted in the history and ethos of our people thanks to the network of its parishes, the wide diffusion lay associations, the sharing of people’s problems, and concrete attention to their spiritual and material needs. No difficult situation leaves her uninvolved or indifferent: she is the ally of man”. AUTHORITATIVE PROTAGONIST. “Cardinal Ruini was one of the most authoritative and far-sighted protagonists of the history of the European Church in recent decades and this authority is recognized in Europe”, says Monsignor ALDO GIORDANO , general secretary of the CCEE (Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe). First of all, observes Giordano, “Cardinal Ruini understood the importance of Europe and European catholicity, and also the importance of being within European history: in this way he led ecclesial Italy to be a protagonist of Europe: we might say that Italy has become in recent years the nation that takes Europe most seriously”. Secondly, “Cardinal Ruini has always participated in the meetings of the Plenary Assembly of the CCEE and thus made sure that the CEI has actively supported many projects of the CCEE, both of collaboration among European bishops and at the ecumenical level”: in this sense the CEI’s support for the first stage leading to Sibiu, held in Rome in January 2006, was of fundamental importance. “In fact – adds Giordano – Cardinal Ruini not only made Italy a protagonist of Europe, but also brought Europe into Italy, because issues involving the Old Continent were always treated in his addresses”. HISTORICAL WAVES. According to the secretary of the CCEE, “Cardinal Ruini has also succeeded in grasping with lucidity the ‘historical waves’ experienced by Europe in recent years”. During the first such wave, coinciding with the collapse of the Berlin Wall, “ecclesial Italy, under the leadership of Cardinal Ruini, was actively involved in supporting the countries of Eastern Europe and in promoting dialogue between the traditions of East and West”. During the second “historical wave” characterized by the growing process of unification, with its problems relating “to what vision of Europe and what values should underlie unification, the role of Christianity in this new Europe, and ethical issues such as life and the family”, “Cardinal Ruini has always insisted that the values of the individual nations should be respected, that the spread of a certain moral relativism be resisted, and that fundamental institutions such as the family or the inviolability of life should not disintegrate”. The third “historical wave” concerns “the confrontation of Europe with the rest of the world, with the emergence of new countries such as India and Chine, and with the spread of Islam and terrorism”: in this case too “Cardinal Ruini has asked what this geopolitical change means for Europe”. EUROPEAN CULTURAL PROJECT. Msgr. Giordano also points out a third aspect of the contribution of Cardinal Ruini to the growth of Europe: “The cardinal – he says – saw the need for a European cultural project, though he did not propose it as a structure, because the theme of man is fundamental in Europe and our future is conditional on our vision of man”. At the European level, explains the CCEE secretary, “there’s the need to engage with the sciences, in particular with the neurosciences, there’s the debate on what a just form of secularism is, and there’s the need to discover the role of reason within the Christian faith”. These questions are “the cornerstones of the cultural project in Italy but are also important for Europe” and thanks to his interventions Cardinal Ruini “has sown the seeds for a European cultural project”.