Europe's Christian roots a secure direction for its future, says the Pope
Vatican City (AsiaNews) Pope Benedict XVI outlined the future of a Europe aware of its Christian roots at a meeting sponsored by the European People's Party (EPP) today in Rome. For the Pontiff, Europe cannot but be strengthened by its Christian heritage in which it is rooted and draw secure direction in the choices it faces in relation to its continental expansion and integration, relations with its neighbours, and social model.
This is especially true in pursuing the "ethical guidelines in the search for a social model that responds adequately to the demands of an already globalised economy and to demographic changes, assuring growth and employment, protection of the family, equal opportunities for education of the young and solicitude for the poor".
Speaking to some 500 EPP parliamentarians, the Holy Father insisted that some principles are not negotiable such as "the protection of life in all its stages, from the first moment of conception until natural death and the recognition and promotion of the natural structure of the familyas a union between a man and a woman based on marriageand its defence from attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different forms of union which in reality harm it and contribute to its destabilisation, obscuring its particular character and its irreplaceable social role";
In a continent where "a certain secular intransigence shows itself to be the enemy of tolerance and of a sound secular vision of state and society," he said that "[s]upport for the Christian heritage [. . .] can contribute significantly to the defeat of a culture that is now fairly widespread in Europe, which relegates to the private and subjective sphere the manifestation of one's own religious convictions."
"Policies built on this foundation," he believes, "not only entail the repudiation of Christianity's public role; more generally, they exclude engagement with Europe's religious tradition".
Hence, Benedict XVI said he was pleased that the European Union's constitutional treaty envisages a "structured and ongoing relationship with religious communities, recognising their identity and their specific contribution."
"I trust," he said, "that the effective and correct implementation of this relationship will start now, with the cooperation of all political movements irrespective of party alignments."
"It must not be forgotten that, when Churches or ecclesial communities intervene in public debate, expressing reservations or recalling various principles, this does not constitute a form of intolerance or an interference, since such interventions are aimed solely at enlightening consciences, enabling them to act freely and responsibly, according to the true demands of justice, even when this should conflict with situations of power and personal interest." (FP)
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