Can Europe do without it?

On the relations between them are needed: and on the question whether a reference to the religious tradition, in particular the Christian and Jewish tradition, which has influenced European culture and history, ought to be incorporated in the Lisbon Treaty. Almost two years after the signing of the Treaty by the 27 members of the European Union in 2007, the scientific workgroup of the German Bishops’ Conference held a meeting on the question in Cologne in which Monsignor Aldo Giordano, permanent observer of the Holy See to the Council of Europe, also took part. He has written the following reflection for SIR Europe.The fact that historically there exists an intrinsic and indissoluble link between Europe and Christianity seems to me so clear as not to need any particular further demonstration or testimony or apology. There’s a huge and inexhaustible bibliography on the subject. Without Christianity some developments in the history of Europe over the last two thousand years would be incomprehensible: not only the religious convictions of European man, but his political institutions, his ways of life, his ethics, art and culture would be incomprehensible. But what seems to be lacking and urgently needed today is a far-reaching debate on the contents of Christianity. Christianity is “interesting and decisive” for Europe not only because it belongs to the very identity of Europe, but because it has something truly original and unique to give to our continent. The gospeI is something new for Europe because it is able to give answers to many of her questions and challenges. Man is searching for God, for truth, even though in the ‘European market’ there are those who regard the problem with contempt or at least with indifference. The debate in recent years on a reference to God and to the Christian roots in the European treaty (the Lisbon Treaty, that is) was particularly heated; it was fascinating but also painful. A consensus was reached on the inclusion of the adjective ‘religious’ in the preamble: but that remains a consensus on a minimum common denominator. Can one accept that Europe has anonymous religious roots, but nothing more than that? Instead of attempting to achieve consensus on a minimum, it would now be high time to aim at a maximum common denominator. Our world is characterized by an enormous reduction of the space in which we live; that requires us rethink in a new way our relations with our fellowmen and differences of culture, race and religion. If we don’t discover the secret of brotherhood, or the dimension in which all of us know we belong to a universal family, our future will be characterized by economic, political and cultural conflicts. When people speak of values in Europe, we agree on the drawing up of a list of values. What still remains open, however, is the question of the foundation, content and interpretation of these values. Opposing positions may be represented in the name of the same value. An important task awaits us: that of newly giving contents to concepts. We need the good that may permit peaceful coexistence between peoples, cultures, groups of peoples and religions. The European Union has grown and in truth no one knows for sure what its frontiers are or could be. We think of the discussions on the possible entry of Turkey and the EU’s relations with its new neighbours: from Russia to the Baltic countries, from North Africa to Israel. Speaking of frontiers also means asking ourselves questions about the relations between Europe and other continents. Christians don’t hope for a fortress Europe, immured in its own prosperity. What Christians really have at heart is universal brotherhood and not the prosperity of a single continent. We need to deepen this sense of belonging to the universal family of Christianity, in such a way as to correct the nationalistic tendencies and thus give a response to the challenges of globalization and peace.