The struggle for Europe's soul

"It is clear that we are no longer a Christian society, but there is a great opportunity to proclaim the Christian vision of reality... Christians have a chance to testify how the Christian faith possesses a unique richness for humanity. The Church must... overcome its own internal temptation to secularisation. There are many... trends which show that it is possible to lead a Christian life in a secularised culture."

These were the comments of Mgr Aldo Giordano, the secretary-general of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences, speaking at the end of a meeting of representatives from 35 bishops' conferences held at Covadonga, Spain, which focused on the secularisation of Europe, the Church's evangelical and pastoral role, and the activity of the participating conferences.

Almost at the same time that Mgr Giordano was speaking in Spain, Gozo Bishop Mario Grech was speaking on the same subject during a Pontifical Mass in Nadur on the feast of St Peter and St Paul. Mgr Grech referred to the comments of the present and the previous Pope on the subject. In the document Ecclesia in Europa published on June 28, 2003, Pope John Paul II had noted that the increased economic and political strength of Europe was being negatively counter-balanced by a crisis of values. Pope Benedict XVI referred to the "model of European life" during his visit to Austria in September 2007. This includes an economic system coloured by social justice, political pluralism animated by tolerance and generosity and, above all, a system of Christian values.

Bishop Grech also buttressed his argument with a number of quotations, including one from former European Commission president Jacques Delors, who once said that "if we do not give a soul and a spirituality to Europe, we would lose the game. If Europe is just built on juridical and economic know-how Europe would be condemned."

Mgr Grech very intelligently weaved together the celebration of the Pauline Year with our duty to bear witness to our faith even in the European context. St Paul was, after all, one of the Europe's chief evangelisers at the very beginning of the Christian era.

During the gathering of European bishops' representatives, Mgr Giordano said that the "meeting also aimed to strengthen the Church's network, which is ... important for the contribution that the Church can make to the process of unification, peace and stability in Europe." Bishop Grech's homily was a very good example of such networking, and shows that the Maltese Church is in perfect harmony with the rest of the Church in Europe.