Theme: Wake up Europe!

Plenary 1: Wake up to the Past 

Friday May 10, 20:00 -21:30

OUR OPENING PLENARY called us to wake up to how the story of Jesus Christ has shaped Europe’s history over the nearly two thousand years since the Ascension; and in particular the story of European integration since the Schuman Declaration of May 9, 1950, which the Europe Day commemorates.  

Bienvenue au Forum sur l’état de l’Europe 2024

Cette année, la Journée de l’Europe coïncide avec la Fête de l’Ascension.

En fait, il n’y aurait jamais eu de Journée de l’Europe sans l’Ascension. La Journée de l’Europe, et les événements qu’elle représente, sont le fruit à long terme des ordres de marche que le Christ ressuscité a donnés à ses disciples le jour de son ascension : aller faire des disciples parmi les peuples du monde entier.

C’est ainsi que des messagers comme Paul de Tarse et Patrick d’Irlande, Boniface et Ulfilas, Cyrille et Méthode ont apporté le message de Jésus aux peuples vivant sur cette grande péninsule que nous appelons l’Europe. Ce message a transformé la compréhension qu’avaient nos ancêtres de Dieu et de l’humanité, et leur a fait savoir que la vie humaine doit être vécue dans l’amour de Dieu et du prochain.

L’histoire de Jésus-Christ a façonné l’histoire de l’Europe, son identité, ses cultures et ses valeurs. Les valeurs enracinées dans le christianisme ont constitué le fondement de la période remarquable et sans précédent de paix européenne depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale, une paix que nous tenons souvent pour évidente et acquise. Des études récentes révèlent le rôle significatif des Églises chrétiennes et de la foi personnelle des acteurs politiques clés dans l’élaboration de l’ordre international de l’après-guerre.

Le forum sur l’état de l’Europe se déroule dans un contexte de guerres et de rumeurs de guerre, de polarisation et d’antagonisme, de manifestations paysannes et d’autres menaces encore à cette paix de l’après-guerre, de sorte que nous ne la pouvons plus considérer comme acquise.

La plénière d’ouverture nous appelle à nous éveiller à la façon dont le message de Jésus-Christ a façonné l’histoire de l’Europe au cours des près de deux mille ans qui se sont écoulés depuis l’Ascension, et en particulier l’histoire de l’intégration européenne depuis la Déclaration Schuman du 9 mai 1950, que la Journée de l’Europe commémore. 

Les différents séminaires et la séance plénière du samedi nous invitent à prendre conscience de notre responsabilité d’œuvrer à la fraternité des peuples et au sein de chaque peuple, dans une Europe de plus en plus polarisée et fracturée, et d’être sel et lumière du monde, en relevant les défis et opportunités actuels – y compris les prochaines élections parlementaires européennes. 

Lors de notre séance plénière de clôture, nous allons prendre conscience de la nécessité de contribuer à l’Europe de demain, par des actions imprégnées des valeurs de vérité, d’amour et de justice qui sont au cœur du message de Jésus. Nous conclurons dans la prière, en adressant nos actions de grâce et nos requêtes à notre Père céleste qui est le souverain de l’histoire, avec la prière : « Que ton règne vienne… sur la terre, en Europe, comme au ciel. »

Jeff Fountain, au nom du comité de planification et des orateurs

Welcome to the 2024 State of Europe Forum

Europe Day this year falls on Ascension Day. 

Actually there would never have been a Europe Day without Ascension Day. For Europe Day, and the events it represents, are the long-term fruits of the marching orders the Risen Christ gave to his followers on the day of his ascension – namely, to go in all the world and make disciples of all peoples.

Obeying this order, messengers like Paul of Tarsus and Patrick of Ireland, Boniface and Ulfilas, Cyril and Methodius brought the story of Jesus to the peoples living on this large peninsular now called Europe. This story transformed our forebears’ understanding of God and humanity; and taught them that human life should be lived in love for God and neighbour.  

That story has shaped the history of Europe, its identity, its cultures and its common values. Those values, rooted in Christianity, were the foundation for the remarkable and unprecedented period of European peace since World War Two. Recent scholarship is revealing the significant role of Church communities and the personal Christian faith of key political actors in shaping the post-war international order.

This forum on the State of Europe takes place in the midst of wars and rumours of wars, polarisation and antagonism, farmers’ demonstrations and other threats to the post-war peace, so that we can no longer take it for granted.

Our opening plenary calls us to wake up to how the story of Jesus Christ has shaped Europe’s history over the nearly two thousand years since the Ascension; and in particular the story of European integration since the Schuman Declaration of May 9, 1950, which the Europe Day commemorates. 

The various seminars and the plenary on Saturday morning call us to wake up to our responsibilities to foster brotherhood between peoples and among people within countries, in an increasingly polarised Europe, and to be salt and light of the world, in response to current challenges and opportunities – including the upcoming European Parliamentary elections. 

In our closing plenary we will wake up to our need to help shape tomorrow’s Europe with actions embedded in the values of truth, love and justice that are at the core of the message of Jesus. We will close by giving thanks and presenting our concerns to our heavenly Father, who is the Sovereign of history, with the prayer: -‘May your kingdom come… on earth, in Europe, as it is in heaven.’

Jeff Fountain, on behalf of the planning committee and the speakers

Welkom op het Forum De Toestand in Europa, 2024

Europadag valt dit jaar op Hemelvaartsdag. 

In feite zou er nooit een Dag van Europa zijn geweest zonder Hemelvaartsdag. Want de Dag van Europa, en de gebeurtenissen die het vertegenwoordigt, zijn de lange-termijnvruchten van de marsorders die de verrezen Christus gaf aan zijn volgelingen op de dag van zijn hemelvaart, namelijk om in de hele wereld te gaan en discipelen te maken onder alle volken.

Dus brachten boodschappers als Paulus van Tarsus en Patrick van Ierland, Bonifatius en Ulfilas, Cyrillus en Methodius de boodschap van Jezus-Christus naar de volken die woonden op dit grote schiereiland dat we nu Europa noemen. Dit verhaal veranderde het begrip dat onze voorouders hadden van God en de mensheid; en leerde hen dat het leven moet worden geleefd in liefde voor God en de naaste.  

Dat verhaal van Jezus Christus heeft het verhaal van Europa, haar identiteit, haar culturen en haar waarden gevormd. Deze waarden, geworteld in het christendom, vormden de basis voor de opmerkelijke en ongekende periode van Europese vrede sinds de Tweede Wereldoorlog, die we vaak als vanzelfsprekend hebben beschouwd. Uit recent wetenschappelijk onderzoek blijkt welke belangrijke rol die christelijke kerken en het persoonlijke christelijke geloof van belangrijke politieke actoren hebben gespeeld in het vormgeven van de naoorlogse internationale orde.

Dit forum over de toestand in Europe vindt plaats te midden van oorlogen en geruchten over oorlogen, polarisatie en antagonisme, boerendemonstraties en andere bedreigingen voor deze vrede, zodat we deze niet langer als vanzelfsprekend kunnen beschouwen.

Onze openingsbijeenkomst is een oproep om wakker te worden en te beseffen hoe de boodschap van Jezus-Christus de geschiedenis van Europa heeft gevormd in de bijna tweeduizend jaar sinds Hemelvaart; en in het bijzonder het verhaal van de Europese integratie sinds de Schuman Verklaring van 9 mei 1950, die de Dag van Europa wordt herdacht. 

De verschillende seminars en de plenaire bijeenkomst op zaterdag ochtend roepen ons op om wakker te worden voor onze verantwoordelijkheid om de broederschap te bevorderen tussen volken en temidden van ieder volk, in een steeds meer gepolariseerd Europa, en om zout en licht der wereld te zijn in antwoord op de huidige uitdagingen en kansen – inclusief de komende Europese Parlementsverkiezingen. 

In onze afsluitende plenaire bijeenkomst zullen we onze conclusies trekken, en de nadruk leggen op de noodzaak om mee te helpen vormgeven aan het Europa van morgen, met daden die doordrenkt zijn van de waarden van waarheid, liefde en gerechtigheid die zo centraal staan in de boodschap van Jezus-Christus. We sluiten af met het brengen van onze dank en van onze zorgen aan onze hemelse Vader die de Soeverein van de geschiedenis is, met het gebed: Uw koninkrijk kome… op aarde, in Europa, zoals in de hemel.

Jeff Fountain, namens de planningscommissie en de sprekers

• Who Won the Peace – Jeff Fountain 

Who won the peace?

Europe at the end of the Second World War was a mess.

We have all seen the pictures of Allied soldiers being met by flag-waving crowds as they drove through the liberated towns of France, Belgium and the Netherlands, giving out chocolate and kissing the girls. Yet these euphoric scenes quickly gave way to the daunting reality of rebuilding a devastated and divided Europe. 

Yes, we all know who won the war. But who won the peace?

For Hitler’s defeat did not automatically guarantee peace across a devastated and divided continent. Chaos threatened on all sides. Hatred and bitterness towards the enemy and collaborators poisoned grass-roots attitudes among victor and defeated alike. 

Families had been separated, divided and destroyed. Deep wounds festered physically, psychologically and spiritually. Hunger, poverty and unemployment added to the miseries of injury and upheaval. Streams of refugees looking for shelter, food, clothing and security totally dwarfed anything we are currently experiencing in Europe today. 

Communist agitators attempted to destabilise the new democratic governments, in France and Italy especially, spurred on by the Kremlin. The Cold War was about to begin. Today’s generations have never known the climate of mistrust and suspicion, crisis and conflict that dominated Europe over the five years following the war. Post-war Europe remained volatile and vulnerable to the imminent threat of communist domination, through military, political and trade union action. 

The 1948-9 Berlin Airlift–when Allied planes were landing at Tempelhof Airport up to every 45 seconds to bring in supplies to the blockaded western sector of Berlin–is a reminder of the desperate struggle that continued after the surrender of the German army. 

Post-war European history could have been very different. Two and a half decades after the collapse of the communist grip on Eastern Europe, we are tempted to forget how real, threatening and apparently permanent this domination was. 

The peace and prosperity Europe has enjoyed since the war, especially in the west, was not simply the natural consequence of the demise of the Third Reich. Rather, it was the fortunate convergence of several key factors; especially American economic aid through the Marshall Plan launched in 1947, and the trans-Atlantic military partnership of nato forged two years later. Both of these, however, could have foundered on the mistrust and bitterness among the European nations which came perilously close to repeating the mistakes of the past.

The Marshall Plan and NATO were necessary supports from the outside, like scaffolding on a building. But something had to change on the inside, in the hearts of the Europeans, for a lasting peace to be built. Many wanted Germany to be wiped off the map, divided into smaller entities, or carved up among the other nations.

What could be done differently this time to break the seemingly-inevitable cycles of war among Europe’s tribes? 

Reconciliation 

France and Germany in particular, with their central geographical location, habitually had behaved like alley cats scrapping over morsels of borderlands, repeatedly dragging their European neighbours into fully-fledged fights. Twice in the first half of the twentieth century, European brawls–with these two nations in the thick of it–had become global conflagrations. Families of each generation had lost loved ones. Young men grew up expecting to be drafted for another war. 

Today thoughts of such conflict among EU nations are unthinkable, thank God! Thanks also to the story of the stunningly rapid yet lasting Franco-German reconciliation after the Second World War. 

For that story is central to the whole post-war European development. It is the story involving a small committed group of statesmen who shared common Christian values, vision and convictions concerning the essential foundations for Europe’s future. 

It is a story with a central figure, widely respected and known for his integrity and humility, and universally acknowledged as the ‘Father of Europe’. Yet the name Robert Schuman remains largely unknown or ignored in the English-speaking world today. If recognised, it is often confused with that of the nineteenth-century German composer, Robert Schumann (double ‘n’). English publications about this man are scarce.

Schuman–one ‘n’–was born in Luxembourg. His French father had moved across the border from Germany-occupied Lorraine and married a girl from Luxembourg. His father died quite young and Robert became very close to his mother who raised him a devout Catholic faith. He was educated in German-speaking schools and universities as a lawyer, but when the Great War broke out, he was called up for service. He failed his medical and was given a clerical job.

When France regained Alsace-Lorraine, Robert chose to become a French citizen, and moved back across the border. There he was given the task of harmonising the laws with the French national legislation. His astute mind and his deep faith were deployed to create a unique legal situation allowing room for faith-based institutions in the newly-restored region in an otherwise secularised nation. To this day, this law is called Lex Schuman.

When his mother died, Schuman considered becoming a priest, but a friend persuaded him to go into politics, saying that ‘the next generation of saints will wear suits’. The young lawyer’s integrity and acumen made him popular as a politician and soon he was serving in the national parliament.

When Germany invaded France in 1940, Schuman was the first MP to be arrested. Clearly a man of that integrity and skill would be a problem for the occupiers. He was kept in solitary confinement for seven months, but as a man of prayer and devotion, Schuman used that difficult time to strengthen his spiritual life.

His captors changed tactics, and gave him more freedom, putting him under house arrest, hoping for some kind of cooperation. Instead, after concluding that the German war effort could not be sustained, and learning about their treatment of the Jews, he made a dangerous escape through 700 kilometres of occupied territory to the free zone of France to share this information.  

There he sat out the remainder of the war, preparing for the end he knew would come. While still underground, he shocked his hosts by insisting that the French would have to learn to forgive and love the Germans in order for Europe to be rebuilt. That sounded simply like treason to them. But forgiveness and reconciliation remained his goal when after the war he was appointed Foreign Secretary in successive cabinets, and even served as Prime Minister for a short term.

Schuman drew inspiration from his Christian faith and Catholic social teaching as he searched for an alternative to the old order of nation states which had emerged in Europe since 1648, the end of the Thirty Years War. He met the leader of the Moral Re-Armament movement, a Lutheran evangelist named Frank Buchman, who also promoted a message of forgiveness and reconciliation. He in turn introduced Schuman to the German leader, Konrad Adenauer, the start of a friendship with long-term significance. 

Schuman kept looking for a way to prevent the vicious cycle of war. Together with fellow-Frenchman Jean Monnet, he secretly devised a plan to link the coal and steel industries of France and Germany under an authority independent of the two governments. This would ensure that neither nation could develop an independent war machine. After receiving Adenauer’s covert support, Schuman presented this plan to the French cabinet in vague terms, sufficient to receive permission to announce the plan that evening.

Defining moment

The date was May 9, 1950. That date has since been officially recognised as the birthdate of the European Union and is celebrated (or ignored) as Europe Day across the 28 member nations. Arguably, this day was the defining moment of post-war Europe. For in a speech lasting a mere three minutes, Robert Schuman laid the foundations for the European House in which today half a billion people in twenty-eight nations live together in peace. 

The press described the announcement as the ‘Schuman bomb’. Headlines read: “France surprises the nations’. Schuman’s own prime minister had not even realised the full implications of this scheme during the cabinet meeting earlier that day. But now the cat was out of the bag. The plan had been announced and all democratic nations in Europe were invited to join this new scheme, to be called the European Coal and Steel Community.  

From that moment on, there was a plan on the table to bring nations in ‘ever closer union’ with the end result, in Schuman’s thinking, a ‘community of peoples deeply rooted in basic Christian values: ‘freedom, equality, solidarity and peace’. Schuman believed these values stemmed directly from the teachings of Jesus. Europe’s future, he argued, depended on the recovery of  these (Christian) values.  

Many other key players were to influence this plan over the following decades as it unfolded step by step. From the start Schuman urged ‘that spiritual progress should go hand in hand with the material’. He insisted that this enterprise was not just economic and technical, but that it needed a soul. That advice has gone unheeded and sixty-five years later the European project is facing major challenges, partly as a result. But the fact that war had been made unthinkable among the member states of the EU made it a deserving recipient of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.

Thanks primarily to Robert Schuman.

• Video– Bishop Robert Innes 

Bishop Robert Innes, based in Brussels as the Anglican bishop in Europe, initially accepted our invitation to address the forum, but later due to other responsibilities had to withdraw from the programme.

Nevertheless his message via a brief video originally presented to the European Prayer Breakfast was an evergreen reminder that only a Europe built on the rock of Christian truth rather than the shifting sands of relativism would stand the storms of time.  

• Waking up to His Story– Evert Van de Pol 

Des moments de grâce pour l’Europe

Evert Van de Poll

Forum sur l’état de l’Europe / State of Europe Forum, 10 mai 2024,

Église des Carmes, Bruxelles

Dans cet exposé, je vais examiner deux moments décisifs de l’histoire récente qui ont profondément changé la situation de l’Europe dans son ensemble et la manière dont nous vivons dans chacun de nos pays. Ensuite, je me pencherai sur la situation actuelle, alors que notre continent est à nouveau déchiré par la guerre et que les gens souffrent de la violence et de la destruction.

Mes observations et réflexions ont été développées plus amplement dans mon livre La foi chrétienne et la construction européenne, hier et demain (deuxième édition 2021), dans les chapitres sur la construction européenne depuis 1945 et sur les révolutions de 1989.

Histoire de l’Europe et Providence de Dieu

La construction de l’Europe au cours de l’histoire, et en particulier le projet d’intégration européenne depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale, n’est-elle que l’œuvre d’acteurs humains ? Ou y avait-il peut-être plus que cela, une dimension spirituelle de la providence divine ?

Nous croyons que le Dieu que nous adorons est le souverain Seigneur de la création, qui gouverne l’univers par sa providence, et que ce Dieu est aussi le souverain Seigneur de l’histoire, qui veillera à ce que le monde et l’humanité arrivent finalement à leur destination, selon ses promesses. Lorsque nous croyons cela, nous pouvons être assurés qu’Il veille également sur l’histoire contemporaine de l’Europe.

Ajoutons que la providence de Dieu dépasse l’entendement humain. Il règne et fait avancer son Royaume d’une manière mystérieuse que nous ne pouvons pas comprendre entièrement. Souvent, nous ne discernons pas les conseils de Dieu dans la vie des individus, et encore moins dans les affaires des nations. Mais parfois, nous avons la nette impression que Dieu est à l’œuvre dans nos circonstances, d’une manière providentielle. Sur le plan personnel, il peut s’agir d’une paix intérieure au milieu d’une tempête, d’une nouvelle opportunité, d’un rétablissement de la santé, d’une solution inattendue à un problème, etc. Nous vivons cela 

Il faut ajouter que la providence de Dieu transcende notre compréhension humaine. Il règne et fait avancer son Royaume d’une manière mystérieuse que nous ne pouvons pas comprendre entièrement. Souvent, nous ne discernons pas les conseils de Dieu dans la vie des individus, et encore moins dans les affaires des nations. Mais parfois, nous avons la nette impression que Dieu est à l’œuvre dans nos circonstances, d’une manière providentielle. Sur le plan personnel, il peut s’agir d’une paix intérieure au milieu d’une tempête, d’une nouvelle opportunité, d’un rétablissement de la santé, d’une solution inattendue à un problème, etc. Nous vivons cela comme un moment de grâce, c’est-à-dire comme quelque chose que nous ne méritons pas mais qui nous est donné, et pour lequel nous pouvons rendre grâce au Seigneur avec joie et sincérité.

De la même manière, un groupe de personnes, une nation ou un pays peuvent également vivre un moment de grâce, une nouvelle opportunité de liberté, par exemple, ou de paix après une longue période de conflits et de guerres. Souvent, nous expliquons ces changements par des causes humaines uniquement, mais parfois le changement est si inattendu, et si crucial, que nous en sommes surpris, et que nous prenons conscience d’un facteur surnaturel qui transcende notre action humaine et notre compréhension humaine.

Dans la Bible, nous en trouvons de nombreux exemples, dans l’histoire du peuple d’Israël et des nations qui l’entourent. Ces événements sont attribués à l’action de Dieu et à l’influence de ses commandements. Si nous croyons que ces histoires sont vraies, nous pouvons nous attendre à ce que des moments de grâce similaires se produisent dans l’histoire des nations, en particulier lorsque les nations ont été influencées par la Bible et la foi chrétienne.

C’est précisément le cas en Europe ! Aucune autre région du monde n’a été influencée par le christianisme aussi longtemps et de manière aussi intensive !

L’idée d’Europe

Elle a commencé avec l’évangélisation apostolique au premier siècle. Ensuite, il y a eu la christianisation du vaste Empire romain. Puis, au cours du Moyen Âge, les peuples situés au nord de cet empire ont été évangélisés et leurs sociétés ont également été christianisées. Tous sont intégrés au monde chrétien, le corpus christianum, qui s’étend jusqu’au Portugal, à l’Irlande, à l’Islande, à la Finlande, à Moscou et à la chaîne de montagnes de l’Oural.

Le nom donné à ce royaume chrétien était “l’Europe”, et les peuples qui le composaient étaient appelés “Européens”.

Ces peuples avaient une grande diversité de langues, de cultures et d’histoires. Mais le christianisme leur a donné une religion commune, une vision commune du monde, un même livre saint, des institutions, des fêtes, des coutumes et des noms de personnes identiques…

C’est ainsi qu’est née l’idée de l’Europe, c’est-à-dire le sentiment que tous ces peuples appartiennent à un ensemble commun appelé “Europe”.

Attention, l’Europe n’était pas un pays, pas un État, c’était le nom du “monde chrétien”. Ce n’est qu’au XVIIe siècle que l’Europe a été définie comme un continent. Lorsque les géographes de l’époque ont défini ses frontières, ils ont pris les frontières du monde christianisé de l’époque.

Ainsi, non seulement l’idée de “nous, Européens”, mais aussi l’Europe géographique sont le résultat de l’impact de l’Évangile et de la foi chrétienne.

Pendant longtemps, l'”idée de l’Europe” était le sentiment d’appartenir à un même monde chrétien. Depuis le XVIIe siècle et la montée du rationalisme et des Lumières, cette idée s’est transformée en une idée d’appartenance à une civilisation commune appelée “Europe”. Cette civilisation était fondée sur les enseignements du christianisme et les Européens la considéraient comme la plus avancée, supérieure aux autres civilisations.

En raison de la séparation entre les églises chrétiennes et les États, et du déclin de la pratique religieuse chrétienne, de plus en plus d’Européens n’ont plus aucune relation avec la religion chrétienne.

En outre, les Européens sont devenus très critiques à l’égard de leur propre passé.

Aujourd’hui, l’idée d'”Europe” ne représente plus le monde chrétien, ni une civilisation supérieure basée sur le christianisme. Elle représente plutôt une zone culturelle, une famille de cultures qui partagent des racines communes, une expérience historique commune, des valeurs sociales et politiques communes.

L’idéal d’une Europe unie

L’idée d'”Europe” a donné naissance à l’idéal de réunir tous les Européens en un seul empire, ou en une seule alliance. C’était l’idéal des empereurs byzantins, de Charlemagne et des autres rois carolingiens, des empereurs Habsbourg du Saint-Empire romain germanique. Les tsars russes ont tenté d’unir le monde chrétien orthodoxe en un seul empire. Ils sont tous allés très loin, mais leurs tentatives ont finalement échoué.

Napoléon a également essayé d’unir tous les Européens par la force, tout comme Hitler et son régime nazi. Mais en vain.

Le mouvement international pour la paix au XIXe siècle a tenté de les unir en créant une alliance, comme l’a fait la Société des Nations entre les deux guerres mondiales. Mais sans succès. Après deux guerres mondiales dévastatrices, l’Europe est plus que jamais brisée et divisée.

L’idée d’appartenir à un ensemble appelé “Europe” demeure.

“Nous ne devrions pas continuer à nous battre les uns contre les autres, mais collaborer en tant que famille de nations et de cultures” Sécularisation de la politique et de la société.

Après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le moment était venu

Après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, l’idée de l’Europe s’est encore renforcée. Cette fois, l’idéal d’unir les nations européennes, du moins celles de la moitié occidentale du continent, était mûr.

Une configuration politique unique

Les partis démocrates-chrétiens occupent une position dominante dans la partie occidentale de l’Europe, sur la base de l’enseignement social de l’Église catholique romaine et des Églises protestantes.

Un leadership unique : Pères fondateurs Schuman, Adenauer, De Gasperi, Monnet, Churchill Les citations suivantes illustrent leur pensée.

Robert Schuman :

Le christianisme est une doctrine qui entend définir l’obligation morale dans tous les domaines de la vie, au moins dans ses principes généraux… afin de protéger le grand intérêt de la personne humaine : sa liberté, sa dignité et son développement.

Konrad Adenauer :

Aux principes fondamentaux du matérialisme, il faut opposer les principes éthiques du christianisme qui doivent déterminer la construction de l’État, la limitation de ses pouvoirs, les droits et les devoirs des individus, la vie économique et sociale, les relations entre les peuples.

Alcide De Gasperi :

Comment maintenir ce qu’il y a de noble et d’humain dans nos forces nationales ? Seulement en leur donnant les idéaux communs de notre histoire”.

La clé d’une nouvelle Europe : la réconciliation

Déclaration fondatrice et retraite de prière

Nouveau modèle de gouvernance – la CECA et ses successeurs, y compris l’UE actuelle : une combinaison d’accords multilatéraux et de gouvernance supranationale de certains secteurs Tension entre plus ou moins de fédéralisme, “États-Unis d’Europe” ou “Europe des nations”, “souveraineté de l’Europe” (dans son ensemble) ou union d’États membres souverains.

Jusqu’à aujourd’hui, l’UE a maintenu les deux idées ensemble dans la combinaison des deux pôles, le fédéral et le national.

Citation d’Alcide di Gasperi

L’avenir ne se construira pas par la force, ni par le désir de conquérir, mais par l’application patiente de la méthode démocratique, l’esprit constructif de l’accord et le respect de la liberté.

Traduit avec www.DeepL.com/Translator (version gratuite)

Moment de grâce pour (une partie de) l’Europe

Cardinal allemand Walter Kaiser, dans un discours public prononcé en octobre 2009 :

Pour notre génération, l’idée européenne des Européens de la première heure, Adenauer, Schuman, De Gasperi et d’autres, est presque venue comme une rédemption, comme un salut. Après les années amères du Troisième Reich, l’Allemagne était à nouveau admise comme membre à part entière de la communauté des peuples européens. Après les destructions de la guerre, une zone de paix est apparue en Europe, fondée sur le respect des droits de l’homme universellement valables et sur une nouvelle prise de conscience des racines humanistes et chrétiennes de l’Europe. L’Europe est devenue une histoire à succès. C’est un signe que les choses peuvent aussi changer pour le mieux, si seulement il y a la volonté, et j’ajouterais la sagesse raisonnable, de faire repentance et de se réconcilier.

Vision d’une communauté de peuples/nations dans la “maison Europe”, au lieu du nationalisme ou de l’empire.

Le rôle crucial de la démocratie chrétienne

Les valeurs de l’UE découlent largement de la démocratie chrétienne et de ses principes directeurs

a) Dignité de chaque être humain – personnalisme, droits et devoirs de l’homme

b) Démocratie représentative – travailler ensemble pour la justice publique / le bien commun

c) Unité dans la diversité

d) Solidarité entre les nantis et les démunis, également au niveau national et international

e) Subsidiarité, intervention limitée de l’État, place pour les institutions sociales et la

locales

f) La famille en tant qu’unité centrale de la société

g) l’amour du prochain appliqué aux peuples et aux nations.

D’autres courants politiques ont également contribué à la construction de l’Europe Disparition progressive de la démocratie chrétienne depuis les années 1960 Le sens originel du projet européen se perd ou se modifie

Nouveau moment de grâce pour toute l’Europe

Retournement inattendu de la situation, fin des années 1980

Gorbatchev, changement de politique

Les anciens ennemis collaborent (Allemagne, Russie)

Révolutions de 1989 – chute du mur de Berlin

Chute des régimes soviétiques les uns après les autres, au point que Gorbatchev lui-même a perdu son emploi parce que “son” Union soviétique n’existait plus.

Tout cela sans violence armée, à l’exception de quelques victimes dans certains pays Liberté et démocratie pluraliste en Europe centrale et orientale

Ouverture des frontières, élargissement de l’UE

Même la Russie a voulu faire partie de la nouvelle situation européenne.

Le facteur spirituel

Le rôle des églises – Danke, Kirche

Message du pape polonais Jean-Paul II qui s’est invité en Europe de l’Est : Ne craignez pas les débuts chrétiens des mouvements populaires de masse

Solidarnosc en Pologne, syndicat libre étroitement lié à l’Église catholique romaine

Réunions de prière dans l’église Nikolaikirche de Leipzig

Le pasteur Tokesz à Timosoara, en Roumanie

A l’Ouest : sept ans de prière, Portes Ouvertes

L’Europe centrale et orientale est attachée aux racines et aux valeurs chrétiennes, contrairement à l’intelligentsia sécularisée de l’Europe occidentale.

Espérer un nouveau moment de grâce

Lorsque la situation semble désespérée, une nouvelle fenêtre d’opportunité peut s’ouvrir, ou un retournement de situation inattendu.

Après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, il y a eu un premier moment de grâce pour l’Europe, qui a réuni les nations occidentales.

Les bouleversements pacifiques de 1989 ont apporté un deuxième moment de grâce, qui a mis fin à l’oppression communiste et ouvert la voie à la rencontre entre l’Ouest et l’Est

Se pourrait-il qu’un nouveau moment de grâce survienne sur notre continent, un moment de réconciliation et de rassemblement des peuples et des nations de l’Est ?

Pour l’instant et pour le moment, cela semble impensable.

Les Russes continuent de faire la guerre à l’Ukraine et il semble que le reste de l’Europe soit de plus en plus entraîné dans ce conflit militaire.

Le régime russe actuel a une idéologie eurasienne et se voit en opposition à “l’Occident”.

Et l’Ukraine est trop traumatisée pour envisager des relations pacifiques avec la Russie à l’avenir. Il me semble que les forces de la violence et du conflit doivent d’abord être épuisées, avant que les choses puissent vraiment changer pour le mieux en Europe de l’Est.

Il semble qu’une nouvelle frontière soit en train de se créer qui traverse l’Europe de l’Est, séparant le Belarus, la Russie et peut-être les parties occupées de l’Ukraine du reste de l’Europe. Pour l’instant, il semble que cette frontière soit là pour rester, comme un nouveau rideau de fer tiré sur le continent.

Mais il ne faut pas désespérer qu’elle s’effondre un jour.

Que ce conflit prenne fin.

Que le régime actuel de Moscou tombe ou change radicalement.

Que les personnes de bonne volonté des deux côtés du conflit relèvent le défi de réparer et de chercher la réconciliation.

Cela ouvrira la voie à un nouveau moment de grâce pour toutes les nations et tous les peuples de l’est de l’Europe.

Peut-être que des personnes visionnaires des deux côtés du conflit anticipent déjà une nouvelle situation, un rapprochement des personnes qui sont maintenant impliquées dans une lutte acharnée.

Un peu comme Adenauer et Schuman pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

Lorsque les forces du nazisme et du fascisme ont finalement été épuisées, la situation était mûre pour leurs idées, et les nations d’Europe occidentale étaient prêtes à ouvrir un nouveau chapitre de leur histoire, cette fois-ci basé sur la démocratie et la collaboration.

Qui appartient à l’Europe ? L’espoir et sa portée

J’ai parlé de “l’idée d’Europe”, de ce sentiment d’appartenance à un tout, plus grand que notre nation. Et j’ai parlé de l’idéal d’unir tous les peuples au sein de l’Europe.

Bien sûr, l’Ukraine et la Moldavie appartiennent à cette Europe.

Bien sûr, elles veulent renforcer les liens avec les autres pays européens et adhérer à l’UE. Mais la Russie appartient aussi à l’Europe, tout comme le Belarus, la Géorgie, et même l’Arménie… Ils ont les mêmes racines historiques, religieuses et culturelles. En ce sens, ce sont des nations frères, un peu comme l’Allemagne et la France.

À mon avis, tôt ou tard, les Russes, les Ukrainiens et les autres devront s’asseoir et raisonner ensemble.

À long terme, c’est la seule voie viable vers la paix, la liberté et la collaboration entre peuples voisins.

Moments of Grace for ‘Europe’ Evert Van de Poll

Forum sur l’état de l’Europe / State of Europe Forum, 10 mai 2024,

Église des Carmes, Bruxelles

In this talk I am going to look at two decisive moments in recent history that have profoundly changed the situation of Europe as a whole and the way we live in each of our countries. And then I Almelo going to look at the present situation, as our continent as again ripped apart by warfare and people are suffering violence and destruction.

My observations and thoughts developed more fully in my book Christian Faith and the Making of Europe, Yesterday and Tomorrow (second edition 2021), in the chapters on the construction of Europe since 1945 and on the revolutions of 1989.

History of Europe and Providence of God

Was the making of Europe in the course of history, and in particular the project of European integration since World War Two, only the work of human actors? Or was there perhaps more to it, a spiritual dimension of divine providence?

We believe that the God whom we worship is the sovereign Lord of creation, who governs the universe through his providence, and that this God is also the sovereign Lord of history, who will see to it that the world and mankind will finally arrive at their destination, according to his promises. When we believe this, we can be assured that He is also looking over contemporary European history.

We should add that God’s providence transcends our human understanding. He reigns and

he is advancing his Kingdom in a mysterious way that we cannot fully understand. We often do not discern the guidance of God in the lives of individuals, let alone in the affairs of nations. But sometimes we have a definite impression that God is at work in our circumstances, in a providential way. On a personal level, this can be an inner peace amidst a storm, a new opportunity, a restauration of health, an unexpected solution to a problem, etc. We experience this as a moment of grace, that is, as something which we do not deserve but which is given to us, and for which we can gladly and truly give thanks to the Lord. Similarly, a group of people, a nation, or a country, can also experience a moment of grace,

a new opportunity of liberty, for instance, or of peace after a long period of conflict and warfare. Often, we explain these changes by human causes only, but sometimes the change is so unexpected, and so crucial, that we are surprised by it, and that we become aware of a supernatural factor that transcends our human action and our human understanding.

In the Bible we find many examples of that, in the history of the people of Israel and its surrounding nations. These events are attributed to the action of God and the influence of his commandments.

If we believe those stories to be true, we can expect that similar moments of grace take place in the ongoing history of the nations, especially when nations have come under the influence of the Bible and the Christian faith.

That is precisely the case in Europe! No other region of the world has been impacted by Christianity for such a long time and in such an intensive way!

The idea of ‘Europe’ and the continent

This impact began with the apostolic evangelisation in the first century. Then there came the Christianisation of the vast Roman Empire. Then, during the Middle Ages, the peoples to the north of this empire were evangelised, and their societies were also Christianised. And they were all incorporated in the Christian world, the corpus christianum, that stretched as far as Portugal, Ireland, Iceland, Finland, Moscow and the Ural Mountain Range.

The name given to this Christian realm was ‘Europe’, and the people within it were called ‘Europeans’.

These peoples had a diversity of languages, cultures and histories. But Christianity gave them a common religion, a common world-view, the same holy book, the same institutions, festivals, customs, and personal names…

And this gave rise to the idea of Europe, that is a sense that all these peoples belong to a common whole called ‘Europe’.

Mind you, ‘Europe’ was not a country, not a state, it was the name of ‘the Christian world’. Only in the 17th century was Europe defined as a continent. When the geographers of that time defined its borders; they used the borders of the Christianised realm at that time.

So not only the idea of “we Europeans” but also geographical Europe is the result of the impact of the Gospel and the Christian faith.

Idea ‘Europe’ in the past

For a long time, the ‘idea of Europe’ was the sense of belonging to the same Christian world. Since the 17th century and the rise of rationalism and the Enlightenment, this changed into the idea of belonging to a common civilisation called ‘Europe’. This was a civilisation based on the teachings of Christianity, and the Europeans considered is as the most advanced one, superior to other civilisations.

Due to separation between the Christian churches and the states, and the decline of the Christian religious practice, an increasing part of the Europeans have no relation any more with the Christian religion.

Moreover, Europeans have become quite critical of their own past.

Nowadays, the idea of ‘Europe’ no longer stands for the Christian world, nor for a superior civilisation based on Christianity. It rather stands for a cultural zone, a family of cultures, with common roots, a common historical experience, common heritage and common social and political values.

Ideal of a united Europe

The idea of ‘Europe’ has given rise to the ideal of uniting all Europeans into one empire, or into one alliance. That was the ideal of the Byzantine emperors, of Charlemagne and other the Carolingian kings, of the Habsburg emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. The Russian czars have tried to unite the Orthodox Christian world into one empire. All of them have gotten very far, but their attempts finally failed.

Napoleon has also tried to unite all Europeans by force, as did Hitler and his Nazi-regime. But to no avail.

The International Peace movement in the 19th century has tried to unite them through creating an alliance, as did the League of Nations between the two World Wars. But without success. After two devastating world wars, Europe was shattered and divided more than ever.

Idea of belonging to a whole called ‘Europe’ remained.

“We should not go on fighting each other, but collaborate as a family of nations and cultures” Secularisation of politics and society.

After WW2 the time was ripe

After the Second World the idea of Europe become even stronger. This time, the time was ripe for the ideal of uniting the European nations, at least those in the western half on the continent.

Unique political configuration

Christian democratic parties in leading position in W part of Europe, based on social teaching of RCC and Protestant churches

Unique leadership: Founding Fathers Schuman, Adenauer, De Gasperi, Monnet, Churchill The following quotes illustrate their thinking.

Robert Schuman:

‘Christianity is a doctrine that intends to define the moral obligation in all areas of life, at least in its general principles… in order to protect the great interest of the human person: his liberty, his dignity and his development.’

Konrad Adenauer:

‘To the fundamental principles of materialism, we must oppose the ethical principles of Christianity that should determine the construction of the state, the limitation of its powers, the rights and duties of individuals, economic and social life, and the relations between peoples.’

Alcide De Gasperi:

‘How can we maintain what is noble and human in our national forces? Only by giving them the common ideals of our history.’

The key to a new Europe: reconciliation

Schuman declaration and the prayer retreat

New model of governance – the ECCS and its successors, including the current EU: a combination of multilateral agreements and supranational governance of certain sectors Tension between more vs less federalism, ‘United States of Europe’ vs ‘Europe of Nations’, the ‘sovereignty of Europe’ (as a whole) vs a union of sovereign member states.

Until today, the EU has kept the two ideas together in the combination of the two poles, the federal and the national

Quote Alcide di Gasperi

The future will not be built by force, nor by the desire to conquer, but by the patient application of the democratic method, the constructive spirit of agreement, and by respect for freedom.

1. Moment of grace for (W part of) Europe

German Cardinal Walter Kaiser, in a public speech delivered in October 2009:

For our generation, the European idea of the Europeans of the first hour, Adenauer, Schuman, De Gasperi and others, almost came as redemption, as a salvation. After the bitter years of the Third Reich, Germany was again admitted as a full member of the community of European peoples. After the destruction of the war, a zone of peace emerged in Europe, founded on respect for the universally valid human rights, and on a new awareness of the humanist and Christian roots of Europe. Europe has become a success story. It is a sign that things can also change for the better, if only there is the will, and I would add the reasonable wisdom to do repentance and to reconcile.

Vision of a community of peoples/nations in the “house of Europe”, instead of nationalism or empire.

Crucial role of Christian democracy

Values of EU largely derived from Christian democracy and its guiding principles a) Dignity of every human being – personalism, human rights and duties

b) Representative democracy – working together for public justice / common good c) Unity in diversity

d) Solidarity between haves and have-nots, also on national and international level e) Subsidiarity, limited state intervention, room for social institutions and local governance

f) Family as the core unit of society

g) Neighbourly love applied to peoples and nations

Other political streams also contributed to the construction of Europe Gradual disappearance of Christian democracy since the 1960s Original vision of the European project gets lost or is changed

2. New moment of grace for whole of Europe

Unexpected turn of the tide, end of 1980s

Gorbachev, change of policy

Former enemies collaborate (Germany, Russia)

Revolutions of 1989 – Berlin Wall broken down

Downfall of the Soviet regimes one after the other, so that even Gorbachev himself lost his job because “his” Soviet-Union no longer existed.

All of this without armed violence, except some casualties in some countries

Freedom and pluralistic democracy in C and E Europe

Open borders, enlargement of the EU

Even Russia wanted to be part of the new European situation

The spiritual factor

The role of churches – Danke, Kirche

Message of the Polish pope John-Paul II who invited himself in Eastern Europe: Fear not Christian beginnings of mass popular movements

Solidarnosc in Poland, free trade union closely linked to the Roman Catholic church

Prayer meetings in the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig

Pastor Tokesz in Timosoara, Romania

In the West: seven years of prayer, Open Doors

C and E Europe attached to Christian roots and values, unlike secularised intelligentsia in W Europe

The key of this turn of events: reconciliation

Church and chapel of reconciliation on the former Berlin Wall

3. Hope for a new moment of grace

When the situation seems desperate, a new window of opportunity can open up, or an unexpected turn of events.

After the second World War there was a first moment of grace for Europe – that brought the Western nations together.

The peaceful upheavals of 1989 brought a second moment of grace – that ended the communist oppression and opened the way for West and East to meet each other

Could it be that a new moment of grace will come for our continent – a time of reconciliation and coming together of the peoples and nations of the East?

At the moment and for the time being, this does not seems realistic.

The Russians continue to wage war against Ukraine, and it seems that the rest of Europe is more and more dragged into this military conflict.

The current Russian regime has an ideology of Eurasianism and sees itself in opposition to ‘the West’.

And Ukraine is too traumatized to even think of peaceful relations with Russia in the future. It seems to me that the forces of violence and conflict have to be exhausted first, before thinks can really change for the better in Eastern Europe.

It seems that a new frontier is being created that runs right through Eastern Europe, separating Belarus, Russia and perhaps the occupied parts of Ukraine from the rest of Europe. For the moment, it seems that this frontier is there to stay, as a new Iron curtain drawn over the continent.

But we should not give up hope that it will crumble down one day.

That this conflict ends.

That the current regime in Moscow falls down or changes radically.

That people of good will at both sides of the conflict take up the challenge to make repairs and seek reconciliation.

Thus giving way to new moment of grace for all the nations and peoples in the east of Europe. Perhaps that visionary people at both sides of the conflict are already anticipating a new situation, a coming together of the people that are now involved in a bitter fight.

Similar to people like Adenauer and Schuman during the Second World War.

When the forces of Nazism and Fascism were finally exhausted, the situation was ripe for their ideas, and the nations of Western Europe were prepared to open a new chapter in their history, this time based on democracy and collaboration.

Who belongs to Europe? Hope, and how far it reaches

I have talked about the ‘idea of Europe’, this sense of belonging to a whole, larger than our nation. And I talked about the ideal to unite all the peoples within ‘Europe’.

Of course Ukraine and Moldova belong to this Europe.

Of course they want to strengthen the ties with the other European countries and join the EU. But Russia really also belongs to ‘Europe’, as do Belarus, Georgia, and even Armenia… They have the same historical, religious and cultural roots. In that sense they are brother nations, much like Germany and France.

In my view, sooner or later, Russians and Ukrainians and others will have to sit and reason together.

In the long run, reconciliation is the only viable way to peace and freedom and collaboration between

neighbouring peoples.

• Responses – 
• Prayer for Europe

Plenary 2: 

Saturday, May 11, 11:00- 12:30 

Theme: Wake up to the Present

THE VARIOUS SEMINARS and the plenary on Saturday morning called us to wake up to our responsibilities to foster brotherhood between peoples and among people within countries, in an increasingly polarised Europe, and to be salt and light of the world, in response to current challenges and opportunities – including the European Parliamentary elections. 

• Waking up to Brotherhood – Bishop Radoslaw & Dr Herbert Lauenroth:

The urgent need to awaken brotherhood

Bishop Radoslaw

Brotherhood.

  I would really want  there be a brotherhood among people, it seems that almost everyone wants it – their way almost all ideological or spiritual teachings  in human history refer to this in some way. But already in the story of Cain and Abel we see that it is not a simple matter, that good will is far from being  enough. It is very important that it is not enough, it is crucial point. 

Brotherhoods built on human strength and ideas.

  I came from the part of the world where there was a great attempt made to build, what they thought would be, a just and better world. They talked about the brotherhood of the proletariat, farmers, intelligentsia, and justice for all. The builders of that brotherhood came to a society where the vast majority of people historically  where supposed to have Christian values ​​as their reference point in life. They came with the promise of building the kingdom of God on earth. They promised –  these are the words of Karl Marx – “what the Church and Christianity have not done, we will now build, we will create.” And many people did believe in that promise and even sacrificed their lives  for it. They wanted a just world, they wanted brotherhood. But, as a result, they have created a terrible system, hell for others and for themselves. They’ve created a system of life that led to the deep spiritual, mental and physical degradation of millions of people. In Ukraine, this included starving millions of people to death. In Ukraine, which can feed all of Europe. The enormous destruction of nature and ecology can be added to all this.

Where was the mistake in this awakening brotherhood between people attempt?

Leszek Kołakowski in his book “Main Currents of Marxism” showed that the catastrophe, hell on earth, was not the result of infidelity to the principles of the new brotherhood, but a consequence of faithfulness to the principles of communism – Marxism. Alexander Solzhenitsyn also confirmed this with his works, and perhaps  convinced at least a part of the intellectual world of Europe to treat critically this form of building brotherhood.  In 1932, a collection of texts by over a hundred outstanding Western intellectuals who visited the Soviet Union and described their impressions during their journey was published. The authors included such famous writers as Nobel Prize winners: Anatol France, Romain Rolland, Thomas Mann, George Bernard Shaw, Upton Sinclair, as well as Henri Barbusse, Heinrich Mann, Gerhart Hauptman, John Dos Passos, George Wells, Theodore Dreiser, Egon Kisch and André Maurois. They all described Stalin’s state as almost a paradise on earth – the only place in the world where true social justice and brotherhood was realized. They were blind to the reality because they just wanted to believe in their own dream of a better  brotherly world. Some were even willing to fight for it. Like Orwell, who did fight in Spain new brotherhood and learned a lot about that reality, has left us with his “Animal Farm” and “1984” as a great warning – to do our best to protect our  freedom, dignity, moral, human  values.

               So why that communist fairytale dream of a better, fairer and more fraternal world has never come true? The shortest answer is: because you cannot win against the nature, against the truth. And what is the nature, what is the truth in this case? What mistake did they make? Saint John Paul II, speaking about the causes of the fall of the communist system, pointed to the basic error as the anthropological error. That is thinking, belief, assumption that man  is born good and all it takes is the right program, conditions, ideology and there will be brotherhood. Yet on the contrary, man is born with the original sin. And it is more ontological that moral problem. This is the fundamental truth. Man has a disease inside him that he cannot cure himself. He wants to be in brotherhood but something inside him drives him to kill his brother.

Our proposal for building brotherhood.

  It’s true, everyone is called to be a brother to his neighbor! But how? With your own strength? No way. We need a Savior!!! Brotherhood appears as a result of the encounter with the Savior, the Risen Christ. Then love and unity are possible .

       What can we Christians do? To meet the Savior, receive Love and be a revelation that love and unity are possible, brotherhood is possible because we have the Father. 

               Jesus is a brother to all and wants to make all people brothers, but 2,000 years ago the humanity rejected His proposal to build love, unity and brotherhood. It sentenced Him to death. It is important to be aware that in this process of rejecting and condemning Jesus to death, the pillars of civilization were united: the superior religion of Israel, Roman law, and the voice of the people – democracy. 

  Can things be different today, that is, can people today easily and enthusiastically accept our proposal to build brotherhood? Every person is waiting for this brotherhood. But it is not an easy matter to accept the offer of Jesus Christ, which means   the death of the old man within us and the adoption of a new identity as a child of God. Even to Nicodemus, a righteous man, the Lord had to say three times that he must be born again. And how? “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.” This is the word of the Lord to Nicodemus. Today we are standing under the Son of Man on the  Cross with our loneliness, egoism, fear, wars, enslavement… sin, death is within us.  We who sentenced this Righteous Brother of ours to death. If we acknowledge this and look at Him with faith, we will receive the Life that He had in Himself. This Life- Holy Spirit gives you the opportunity to love your brother.  It is our mission.    

Archbishop of Granada expressed his thought: The current culture that surrounds us – for the first time in history, as Joseph Ratzinger said, a culture that has no reference to God, the sacred, transcendence – is like a speeding train heading for the abyss, it cannot be stopped. The only thing you can do is light bonfires along the train route and give signs to people on the train that you can live differently. Some people call this course of action the Benedict Option. Saint Benedict came to Rome in VI century and realized that he could not live like a Christian in this Roman environment, he was too weak. So he went into the desert to meet God. He was interested in God! He had no ambition to change the world or build Europe. But it was precisely from this meeting and similar encounters with God that the greatness of Europe and its brotherhood were born. Europe, which is geographically a peninsula of Asia, has become the center of culture and civilization for the entire world.

  Our mission is true because it is realistic. Realistic because it puts meeting God first. Realistic because it accepts the current reality as it is. Of course, it does not mean locking yourself in your ghetto, of course it means love and going out into the world. However, this exit into the world will increasingly be a conflict, because we are a culture from heaven, a saving culture, a culture calling for conversion. Today we are a counterculture, just like at the beginning of Christianity.

        Christians have been persecuted and we will be. The Lord Jesus talks a lot about this. The Book of Revelation describes our lives: there are trials, persecutions, beasts. But probably the shortest comment on the Apocalypse is: “it seems bad, but it is good.”

5.   Examples – lights:

  Bishop of Kiev Jan Purwiński, the first bishop after the collapse of the Soviet Union, during the consecration of the cornerstone in the church in Obukhiv near Kyiv recalled the time when he was to be ordained a priest in Riga 40 years ago.  He said that there was a five-year plan of the Communist Party at that time, which assumed that in five years the last believer would disappear; there was then only one old bishop who could ordinate  him; it seemed that faith and the Church were disappearing from the face of the earth; some said: what are you doing, there is no future. And Bishop Jan commented on this with the words: “how many cornerstones have I already dedicated to the construction of churches after collapsing the communism”?!

  Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, a great figure of the Church in America. Two priests came to him, overwhelmed by witnessing aggressive secularism. The cardinal said: we can imagine the worst case scenario: I die in the hospital, my successor in prison, the next bishop of Chicago is a martyr. But after this, again, as it has happened many times in history, the Church will rebuild the ruins that will remain. My congregation of Missionary Oblates was born after the French Revolution out of the desire to rebuild the ruins that remained.

        And many other examples include 12,000 baptisms of young people in France for Easter this year. For me, this meeting and last one in Timisoara and listening to you is a sign of hope and the future.

A specific proposal.

 Always and today, we must proclaim with conviction Jesus Christ as the only Savior who has the power to defeat evil in us and make us brothers and sisters. But What is extremely important now  is to create places and environments where people can learn brotherhood and where this brotherhood can manifest itself: “see how they love each other.” We are sociologically and culturally in a similar situation to Christians in the first centuries. At that time, the catechumenate was a tool that formed people to be Christians and to live in brotherhood. I have experience of several years of catechumenate for adults in Turkmenistan and  Ukraine /Kyiv/ I saw how powerful this Christian initiation was. In Poland, the Light-Life Movement, called the Deuterocatechumenate, played a great role. Many of us have certainly heard about the Neocatechumenal Way, which leads to the emergence of a community of brothers and sisters living in love and unity. The experience of many of you in movements and communities confirms the need for a faith environment where we learn brotherhood and where we can be a sign that brotherhood is not a utopia.

I want to say: be courageous! because Christ has Risen and anima humana naturaliter christiana – the human soul is by nature Christian. 

Synthesis:

– We want brotherhood

– We try to build it ourselves, but it is always a utopia

– We need a Savior because we are sinners

– With his power, he gives us the ability to break down the walls that divide us

– We need an environment – a community – a space where we meet Savior, learn brotherhood and where this brotherhood can be seen

Interesting fact: 

In the same year, a young English journalist, Malcolm Muggeridge, went to Moscow with his pregnant wife. He was very happy because he was brought up in a home where the word socialism was the most sacred word. He believed in what these great authorities of a new, better world said. However, he quickly noticed that the reality was completely different. Unlike others, he had the courage to think and see the truth.

 Then, rumors about artificial famine began to spread. Walter Duranty, correspondent of the New York Times, convinced American readers that there was a disaster in Ukraine, but a harvest. French journalist Genevieve Tabouis claimed that the famine in Ukraine was a figment of anti-Soviet propaganda. Former French Prime Minister Edourad Herriot, after returning from the USSR, declared: I traveled all over Ukraine. And what? I assure you that I have seen this garden in full bloom.” Malcom decided to check the truth for himself. Disguised as a Soviet worker, he got to Ukraine without the authorities’ permission. What he saw then terrified him, and he saw only a fragment of this tragedy.

He sent correspondence to England, but he was not believed and his report was not printed. When he came back and talked about what he had seen, showing at the same time the hypocrisy of intellectuals and believers in progress, he was considered mad.

 It took several decades for the truth to reach the consciousness of people in the West. Muggeridge himself lived to see the fall of communism – he died in 1990. Eight years before his death, under the influence of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, he and his wife became members of the Catholic Church. He was brought there by his passion for searching for the truth, to which he was faithful all his life. In 2008, President Yushchenko posthumously awarded Malcolm Muggerdge the Order of Merit for his work in revealing the truth about the Great Famine. Apart from him, out of hundreds of journalists, only one other received a similar award. Everyone else lied. /after Grzegorz Górny: People from the Valley of Death pp. 43-52/

EUROPE´S AWAKENING TO FRATERNITY: A VISION FOR A MISSION (11-05-24)

Herbert Lauenroth

TRANS-FORMATIONS

A power- and impactful vision of what the topic of our conference  – “Wake up, Europe!” – is all about, exemplifies the grandiose, highly dramatic tableau to be found in Ez 37:

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. … This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breathenter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

What is pictured here, is the – literally ground-breaking – event of an awakening/resurrection: from the BATTLE- or KILLING FIELDS to an emerging, new space of flourishing, multifaceted HUMAN LIFE, for the biblical experience of its unfolding “shalôm”: A prophecy destined to come true because of our obedience, of our listening to the words of the LORD. A prophecy of becoming one people, not despite, but because of all their different longings and belongings: My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.

What is at stake here could be exemplified by the story of Michael, a friend of mine. It is kind of a “parable” for Europe´s search for identity, for its coming to rest with itself, finding peace with its ancient and recent traumas: For many years Michael had been searching for the grave of his father – buried as a casualty of WW-II on foreign ground – on the ancient, deserted cemetery of Timisoara. As this passionate and dramatic search was to no avail in the end M. abandoned his endeavor and wrote a letter to the Lord Mayor of Timisoara, proposing him to transform this deserted wilderness into a public space or garden, a common ground, a recreational area or enclave within the urban surroundings: a location where everything is based on the encounter with the other person, culture, creed, confession etc.: a place of mutual acceptance, hospitality, reconciliation, a space of the Jewish-Christian “shalôm”. In all that I was reminded of that strikingly actual prophecy in Ezekiel: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them.

OUR MISSION: CREATING NEW SPACES OF METÁNOIA

And maybe our mission as Christians and Europeans is all about creating (and bearing witness to) these new spaces of fraternal communion:

• as spaces based on an ethics of compassion and memoria passionis, a place in which remembering (resp. honoring) the dead means to honor the living, without distorting or “cancelling” our father´s legacy or “patrimony”, but welcoming/celebrating life, the present and its promises instead.
• as spaces of “conversion of the hearts”: He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction, Mal 4:6), thus operating a “change of heart” (Ez 36, 26-27: Iwill give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them).
• as spaces based by on a “solidarity of the shattered” (as Czech philosopher Jan Patočka would have it): a place of gathering, where all the lost, “orphaned”, dispersed sons and daughters find themselves recognize one another as brothers and sisters. 
• as spaces like that one and only Timisoara cemetery, where M.s search for his father´s grave once got started and turned out to be a late version of the parable of another Prodigal Son: a deserted, marginal, removed, overlooked space, a space from which a VISION arises: a VISION for a MISSION.

METÁNOIA-as-“ZEITENWENDE”

This place has to be “cultivated”: in the spirit of METANOIA, in the spirit of repentance, change of heart and, consequently, direction: as the Christian, inner, spiritual and existential answer to what is meant by the political, belligerent term of “Zeitenwende” (of dramatically changing times, as it was proposed by German chancellor Olaf Scholz right after the beginning, that notorious “bad awakening” to a new nightmare on February 24^th 2022, that fatal morning, when Russia started its war on Ukraine).

The DEESIS is among the most prominent and emblematic iconographical representations of that METÁNOIA: looking towards Christ, the Middle, and simultaneously, almost unavoidably towards the Other/Margin: the “last” figure of the First Testament and the “first” figure of the Second Testament, John the Baptist and Mary of Nazareth: mediated by Christ.

Seen from this perspective, metanoia to Christ implies metanoia to the other, metanoia to the middle implies metanoia to the margins. In this icon we do find the adequate representation of what TfE, its very yision and mission, is all about: Being on our way with Christ and with one another. The communion of Charisms and Cultures is the privileged “locus theologicus”, the place where epiphany takes place.       

“EMMAUS-COMPETENCE”

In order to “awaken to fraternity” Europe needs a new narration, based on the so-called “Emmaus-competence”, which means: 

1. living the missionary outreach as a common testimony to Christ amidst his disciples, by offering that hospitable safe space of an in-between, as the expression of a togetherness, the gathering, communion of more than just one charism, 
2. practicing what I would refer to as the “Art of Listening”: as the basis of any “welcoming culture”, as an unconditional acceptance towards the other´s hi/story, which then becomes the starting point for any further dynamics (of “dialogue”, “communion” and “reciprocity”); but this approach (the “Art of listening”), this ideal of mutual acceptance and love is always based on an audacious act of faith, the disposition to enter into an ”asymmetrical relation”. This audacity is echoed in the strikingly powerful words by Helmut Nicklas, one of the leading figures of “Together for Europe”: “It is not sufficient to give, to “invest”, to bring in one´s own proper Charism. What is needed here goes far beyond instead: Only if every one of us is disposed to receive, or better: re-receive his/her own charism by the encounter with the other charisms, the charisms of the others, only if we all are ready to learn – so to speak – our own charisms anew by the other, only then the “Together for Europe” will stand the test of time.” – Or as we might add: Only then Christians all over Europe will rise or wake up to Fraternity.   
3. creating a new narration: a narration of resonance and reciprocity, starting from an “in-between”-ness (cf Camille de Toledo´s plea in “Le Nouveau Magazine Littéraire – 05/2018” for a “third” European narrative (“Le conte des trois Europe”) – after the (i) economical discourse centered on the protectionist perspectives of a prospering European “market” and the (ii) narrative of Europe as the massive “stronghold” against migrants and refugees – , in which opposing perspectives and trajectories are perceived in a logics of mutual relations instead: “A new political force must emerge that is fuelled by a new sensitivity for the spaces in between and that makes them effective between languages, cultures and people: a trans-national force in Europe, the bearer of a culture that is characterized by what is still  to come, a culture that emerges from the spaces of a translation that carries the different times and their stories, their experiences of suffering within itself. In this way, it will be able to remind this world of the vision of an inclusive community. Without this promise, our continent would probably be lost.” In other words: Christians have to be “translators” between different, contrasting ideas and idioms, acting like “vanishing mediators” between diverging, opposite narratives with their respective – opposing- points of view. 
4. Now this “third” narration discloses a new space, the place of Christ in our midst, among the many, the multitudes: In Eph 2,14-18 Paul refers to that Christ- as “thirdspace”: “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility …. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”  That seems to me the most consistent summary, the “Magna Charta” of what our reflections have been all about: on “Europe´s awakening – to Fraternity”. leaving the respective comfort zones (of our cultures-&-communities) and entering into the RIFT, by starting from the zones of fractures and division their work of mediation – in Christ. 

“ARCHIPELAGO” 

Christians are called to be “ambassadors”, “witnesses” to these emerging new spaces in Europe (and worldwide), to act like Christ acted upon them (on their way to Emmaus): “reading” past and present (with regard to the future) as “vanishing mediators”, who step like Him in the different conflict zones and voids, i.e.: in the broken or lost middle, thus becoming “martyrs of the middle”, of that mediation – in order to open new spaces of mediation, reconciliation, shalôm. 

This missionary outreach could unfold as an “archipelago” of cities – disseminated all over Europa, undoing the frontiers of the Nation States. Cities have always been situated strategically at the  crossroads of many pathways of ideas and innovation many all over Europe, an “archipelago”, which symbolizes a group of different islands, a “constellation” or one coherent, yet diversified insular complex or identity (a European federation of cities as most recently proposed by philosophers and political scientists such as Massimo Cacciari and Chantal Mouffe); this “archipelago” is a positive mirroring of what Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 1974 referred to as the “Archipelago GULAG”: a subterranean topography of terror in the era of raging Stalinism, infiltrating or undermining all social, political, urban infrastructures of Soviet society, spreading then a climate of anxiety and PARANOIA. But now this “archipelago” is based on an attitude of METÁNOIA instead: contributing to a multi-centered, “thick” texture or social fabric in Europe. 

MARIUPOL/Mariapolis (or: What´s in a name?)

With regard to Ukraine we are confronted with a fatal implication of every war: It is always  an attack on the cities: Mariupol, Bucha, Gostomel, Chernihiv, Kharkiv. International pundits and scholars are speaking of an “urbicide” (“killing” of the city”), which – in my ears – resonates with “fratricide” (killing one´s own brother). 

With regard to the siege and nearly complete devastation of the Ukrainian metropole Mariupol you might have to think for a moment  what´s in a name like this: Because Mariupol stands in for Maria-Polis, the “City of Mary”, modelled after the imagery of the New Jerusalem at the end of times, in which Christ Himself (and NOT the Temple) is at the very heart and the center of the entire urban setting (cf Rev 21,22); MARIAPOLIS is thus modelled – in the orthodox and catholic traditions – on the figure of the Θεοτόκος “theotókos” (the one who gave birth to God), the mother of God, who receives herself – as the most average and humble creature – from the Creator she has given life to inside of her. 

WOMB/TOMB

The analogy of theology and politics is striking: Raging war on the city, in other words: accomplishing that very urbicide means to devastate the most sacred of all places: the maternal WOMB of a City like “Mariupol”, a name destined to be emblematic for every city in the world, has by now become an empty TOMB and that is where our reflections get back to where they started from.

FROM TIMISOARA TO MARIUPOL – AND BACK

Mariupol and the ancient cemetery of Timisoara, two completely different landscapes. There is no comparison, yet both remind us of the fact that the most contested space, the ultimate combat zone can be a rotten graveyard close to the Romanian/Hungarian border, destined to become a place of reconciliation, of an awakening to fraternity again. 

Or, and most dramatically, the completely devastated cityscape of Mariupol: destined to be perceived as the maternal womb, the secluded spot, the urban settings of the Polis/Political, from where a new life, a new beginning, a new day is rising, unfolding: Europe´s awakening to its Fraternity in Christ, prophesied in Ezekiel: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them  … My dwelling place will be with you; I will be your God and you will be my People.   

©Herbert Lauenroth

• Video – Eduard Heger

Plenary 3: 15:30- 17:30

Theme: Wake up to the Future 

• How to pray and vote for the EP elections? – Arie de Pater 

Arie de Pater offered guidance for how Christians can pray and vote in upcoming elections. Contributing to both actions are the values to protect truth and democracy, serve, fight injustice and more. 

• Prayer for Europe – Peter Artman 

In prayer for Europe, led by Peter Altman, representatives from the different seminars were invited to share specific prayer points around which we prayed in groups throughout the sanctuary.