The lesson of the “fathers”

With an interview with Bishop Christo Proykov, Apostolic Exarch of Sofia and President of the Interritual Bishops’ Conference of Bulgaria, SIR Europe is continuing its special feature dedicated to the reflections of European bishops on the process of European integration and on the Church’s thought on the European common home.What opinions and expectations do Catholics in your country have regarding the EU? “Undoubtedly, the catholic faithful in Bulgaria have a very positive attitude towards the European institutions. We are glad for the fact that, after years of totalitarian regime and the cold war, today Europe is united – practically speaking – and can breath with its two lungs, as Blessed John Paul II used to say. We know that Europe’s integration does not only concern the European Parliament in Strasbourg or the close mutual collaboration of the member States’ governments. In the same line, it cannot be reduced to the Euro currency and the European common market. The European Union is, first of all, an encounter and a collaboration among people living in the member States – a collaboration founded on our common roots, which are especially roots of Christian tradition, and without the latter we cannot think of Europe. This is the lesson we learned from our “fathers” of a united Europe: Jan Mone, Moris Shumann, De Gasperi and Adenauer, up to Blessed John Paul II”.Consensus is based on correct information: considering your daily experience, do you believe that information on the EU and European Churches is adequate? “I think the information we have about the activity of the European institutions are quite correct. The problem is that these institutions, with their complicated bureaucracy, their decision-making methods – which are sophisticated and incomprehensible in the eyes of ordinary European citizens -, their attitude of reducing European politics only to economic decisions and technocratic solutions, their lack of a clear vision of Europe’s future, its frontiers, its place in the globalized world, and how Europe will deal with the great challenges of our time. With all of this, the European institutions are miles away from ordinary European citizens who, in turn, dangerously express a growing scepticism, discontent or simple indifference towards their activities and operations. In this area, though, the Church is doing much”.How can the Church in your country contribute to the European Union?“Along with all the catholic faithful in Europe, we also fight for a politics being centred on humans and their real needs – not only their material needs, but also their spiritual ones. We strive to convey to the Bulgarian society those human values which have been the foundation of a united Europe on its beginnings, which derive from and contain in themselves the force of Christianity. At the same time, as successors of the Saint Brothers Cyril and Methodius, we would like to give our contribution to reinforce the unity of Europe, in view of a fruitful dialogue between the East and the West of Europe”.What do you think about work carried out by European Churches in the EU so far?“I believe that much has already been done and that, thanks to the Churches in Europe, the Christian values are still alive and put into practice, and continue to give a meaning to the life of millions of European citizens. Nonetheless, there is still much to be done in view of an effective, institutional and legal recognition of the role of our Christian Churches in the integration and development of Europe and in reinforcing dialogue and cooperation with the different institutions of the EU, so that the good news of salvation might reach every single European citizen”.