” “"We cannot think of building a true common house if we neglect the identity" of the "peoples of this Continent of ours"; an identity "composed of a whole of universal values, that Christianity helped shape, thus coming to play a role not just in history but a basic role within Europe". This is the warning made this morning by Benedict XVI during the audience in the Vatican with the participants in the Congress that Comece (Commission of the EU Bishops Conferences) promoted these days on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome in the Italian capital. If, on the occasion of this anniversary, went on the Pope, "the governments of the Union wish to get closer to their citizens, how could they leave aside such a basic element of the European identity as Christianity is, which a vast majority of them keeps identifying with?". Mentioning the "long path" covered by Europe since 25th March 1957, "which led to the reconciliation of the two lungs the East and the West ", Benedict XVI spoke of the "ongoing" search for "an appropriate institutional structure" and the need to find a healthy balance between the economic and the social dimension". (to be continued)” “
