Yesterday’s lesson

The 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome will be celebrated in late March. To mark this event the Christian Churches are preparing a declaration. What does Christianity mean for united Europe in our time? The interview of Ulrich Ruh of Herder-Korrespondenz on these issues with HANS MAYER , emeritus professor of the Guardini Chair (Lehrstuhl für christliche Weltanschauung, Religions- und Kulturtheorie) in Munich was published in the February number of the German Catholic review. THE ROLE OF CATHOLIC POLITICIANS. What importance has Christianity had in the process of European unification? According to Mayer we need to bear in mind the fact “it was especially Catholic politicians who started up the process of European integration”: Alcide De Gasperi, Konrad Adenauer and Robert Schuman (the real father of united Europe) were believers. “The fact that the protagonists of the European Union were Catholics facilitated the formation of a common language and the enunciation of common political objectives that had a European vision, instead of national projects, as their goal”. Even if the European project had in origin a purely economic character (coal and steel community), the liberals and the socialists, in contrast to the Christian Democratic parties, were not in the least open to the European idea. The Christian Democratic parties, then strong in Germany, Italy and also in France, had no links with the past and therefore did not feel themselves responsible for defending national interests, as did the other parties. “In this way – pointed out Mayer – they could give new signals: the ‘Nouvelles Equipes Internationales’, the first office of the European political party of the Christian Democrats, has its seat in Brussels. Its projects were extended even to Eastern Europe: European policy played an important role for the Christian Democratic parties”. THE “RELIGION” FACTOR. Christian Democrats aimed at a general vision of a Europe founded on Christian traditions, humanism and the values of the Enlightenment. The idea of a “propitious moment” for Europe, as suggested by Schuman, highlights, according to Mayer, the fact that there was a kind of collaboration between political activities and religious ideas of a “Christian Europe”. For citizens, however, economic prosperity was the fundamental motive that led them to accept the European Union without asking any questions about its basic ideas. The economic union, initially conceived as a means to the end, became, in the Sixties and Seventies, an end in itself. With the collapse of Communism, after 1990, discussions were accentuated on the foundations and goals of Europe, culminating in the formulation of the draft European Constitution. The drafting of this Constitution made it plain how far the ‘religion’ factor had become a burning problem. Mayer points out a kind of schizophrenia, dominant in some parts of Europe: “France proposed that all its cathedrals, which are undoubtedly a Christian and hence religious architectural heritage, be included in the list of the world’s cultural heritage. But at the same time France vetoed any mention of the Christian past – and present! – in Europe”. THE TWO LUNGS. There are two opposing poles in Europe: on the one hand, French secularism; on the other, the strong link between church and state especially in the tradition of Russian orthodoxy, now revived by Putin. Between these two poles there are various other forms, such as those present in the German-speaking states, in Italy and in Spain, which link the institutional separation between church and state with the willingness for collaboration. “The future for Europe ought to be in the intermediate forms and this ought also to be expressed in the Constitution”, says Mayer, stressing that in this way the dialogue with Islam would also be facilitated. The task of Christianity in the plurality of its confessions would be that of questioning itself, within the individual confessions, about what specific contribution each of them could make to the European Union; a process of mutual enrichment, as well as correction, would also be needed between the confessions. “Pope John Paul II showed himself to be a prophet by declaring that Europe ought to breath with both lungs and by nominating Edith Stein and Cyril and Methodius Patrons of Europe”. LEARNING FROM THE CHURCH. Mayer proposes that Europe should continue to derive inspiration from Christian impulses: the principle of subsidiarity (at one time considered exclusive to the Catholic Church) has been recognized as a fundamental component of European policy. The collaboration of Christians and the Churches, moreover, will be essential for a revival, in whatever form, of a social market economy. “And last but not least: European policy could learn from the Church how variegated cultural aspects can be supported while at the same time creating a political unity of integration”.