The primate of the Russian Orthodox Church has also expressed his belief that “European civilisation is built on Christian values” and that this is an unquestionable fact. That’s why goes on Alexius II “people of faith must always remind their peers that the true source of the noblest aspirations of Europe, such as the respect of human freedom and the tolerance of any opinion, comes from the Christian message of the love for God and for human beings, created in His own image”. In this sense, “removing from their main source every value and ideal, although bright, means making them lose all their meaning” and even risking that such values may be used against God’s design for humanity. The history of Europe went on Alexius II is full of such mistakes, and the Christians of the East and West must help the peoples of this continent not to make the same mistakes. When Christ’s lesson has been forgotten, “the Europeans have engendered tragedies in history”.
