The only reasonable path

Starting forthcoming July 1st, France will be holding the presidency of the European Union for six months. This period will have to lead us to reflect upon our European commitment and on the events which will be marking the second semester of 2008, the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. The European construction bore significant fruits which go under the name of Peace. However, these fruits are also fragile. This small part of the globe accumulated throughout the centuries an exceptional development and government capacity. This is all the more evident when taking a glance at the rest of the world: Colombia and the held hostages including our compatriot Ingrid Bettancourt, Tibet and the current retaliations, Burma which seems to no longer hit the news, Darfut and Sudan, the Middle East and Algeria. These situations are spared to our Old Europe, although progress leading towards unification recently underwent a cruel and insane phase. Such undeniable progress produced great statesmen like Konrad Adenauer, Alcide de Gasperi and Robert Schumann, only to mention the most famous. None of the three ever denied their Christian motivation underlying their apparently utopian commitment. In the same period, a different Europe was being built, beyond the Oder-Neisse line. We all know its bitter fruits. Enlargement placed our Europe before an objective question previously raised with the entry of former Soviet-ruled Countries. How far are we willing to go for the creation and the establishment of peace? How far are we willing to go in sharing prosperity? In our greatly-developed West-European Countries, the question regarding the reception of immigrants is a recurring one. Do we want an open Europe or would we rather prefer Europe to be closed before the risk of losing our financial security whose turbulences trigger well-known starts? History taught us that closure doesn’t enable resistance to external primary needs. The only reasonable path to be undertaken is the one leading to development of immigrants’ native Countries. This policy however, entails high financial and aid-monitoring costs. Which percentage of our national wealth are we willing to invest in this initiative, not only in terms of presents, but also in terms of actual subsidies? A reasoned immigration policy cannot prescind from envisaging means which will prevent its executioners from being overburdened with situations that are hard to handle. Lastly , in this framework, the way to deal with people undergoing difficulties entails a specific commitment in the implementation of legislation and rulings. Those who don’t meet the conditions for reception in our Countries still remain human beings who deserve to be respected and treated with dignity. The Church is satisfied that many Catholics are committed in this branch of solidarity… If we may justly evoke the Christian roots of Europe, it’s up to us to act in such a way so as to enable these roots to be seen and to bear their fruits. Only at this price will we be capable of giving our youth reasons to hope, to believe in the future and to escape the illusion of violence and artificial paradises created by drug and alcohol consumption.