A constitution without a reference to Europe's very foundation

An inevitable link exists between law and culture. In Malta, for example, some of our laws and regulations have been drafted on the basis of Common Law provisions, exemplifying British colonial influence in Malta, while some others are the effect of continental law, living evidence of Italian law and French law since the Code Napoleon.

This connection is generally reflected in the drafting and promulgation of laws, including the titles of international laws. For example, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights is so called since the word 'universal' reflects shared concerns and an internationally recognised standard of evolution.

Culture is defined as the total of the inherited ideas, beliefs, values and knowledge, which constitute the shared bases of social action (1985 Collins English Dictionary, p. 364).

Religion is a major component of culture and, arguably, the most important, particularly when the contemporary clash of civilisations is considered to be a clash between the West on one hand and Islam on the other.

It is religion, as perceived by most people, which might lead to a third world war, just as it led to the Crusades many years ago. Its importance thus cannot be underestimated.

Religion invokes the clash of civilisations, as American political scientist Samuel P. Huntington argues in his book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Lord Denning, in R v Registrar ex parte Segerdal in 1970, defined the phrase 'religious worship' as:

"It connotes to my mind a place of which the principal use is as a place where people come together as a congregation or assembly to do reverence to God. It need not be the God which the Christians worship.

"It may be another God, or an unknown God, but it must be reverence to a deity. There may be exceptions. For instance, Buddhist temples are properly described as places of meeting for religious worship."

The EU is a union which recognises religion's unificatory role. It has its own body of laws and regulations. Various norms and standards have stemmed from the common values shared by EU member states.

These values include enhancing and facilitating political and economic integration, and promoting respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms. These values, especially the latter, are nothing but the recognition of the dignity of the human being, a concept that finds its foundation in Natural Law itself and was eventually emphasised in the teachings of Christianity.

In fact, it might be fair to say that contemporary human rights law is a reflection of pre-existing Christian thought. This is not to say however that other religions do not promote or respect fundamental human rights.

It is thus expected that the traditionally religious countries, such as the ones in the Mediterranean, forcefully request that reference to religion be made in the new EU Constitution.

It is either ignored, or taken for granted, that most laws are deeply influenced by religion, as practised within that particular society. This does not only happen in the traditionally religious states, such as Malta.

In the UK, where no religion is proscribed, a multiplicity of faiths exist alongside each other, with the number of non-Christian faiths increasing dramatically.

Notwithstanding this, marriage and family life are considered as religious duties, and laws prescribe rules, which delineate the necessary form of the marriage ceremony and dictate who can take part in it in accordance with religious requirements.

Similarly, in the UK (traditionally not a very religious state), though not part of the core curriculum, religious education forms part of the basic curriculum. Adherents of different religions may find that one of the duties of their faith is to educate their children under terms laid down by that faith.

Blasphemy is a crime, while a great number of our laws refer to public morality, which is principally dependent on our religious beliefs and traditions.

The controversy relating to religion and working on Sunday stands in various states. In the UK it owed its existence to the Sunday Observance Act, promulgated in 1677, the 1961 Factories Act, the Sunday Observance Act of 1780 and the 1950 Shops Act.

The Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act of 1978 and the 1976 Race Relations Act provided general protection from unfair dismissal given to workers who believed that their work and their religion were in conflict.

Section 30 of the 1944 Education Act holds that "no person shall be disqualified by reason of his religious opinions, or of his attending or omitting to attend religious worship, from being a teacher in a county school or in any voluntary school".

This goes to show the extent to which the phenomenon of religion is ingrained in European culture. The UK has been chosen as an example since it is a kingdom that is not renowned as being very subservient to religious dogma, unlike Mediterranean states, such as ours.

Malta's Constitution, for example, makes express mention of our religion in Article 2, which states: "The religion of Malta is the Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion."

Furthermore, it states: "The authorities of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church have the duty and the right to teach which principles are right and which are wrong."

Finally it states: "Religious teaching of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Faith shall be provided in all State schools as part of compulsory education." Likewise, the German and Polish constitutions refer to God.

Fr Konrad Grech, a Jesuit, a member of the Faculty of Theology, and an expert on Church History and the Church's engagement in international affairs, in the journal published by the Maltese Jesuits entitled Orbis: a window on the world (Summer 2003, Volume 2, pp 3-5) remarks: "Robert Schuman, one of the Founding Fathers of European unity, once confided that the places he felt most at home in were European cathedrals.

"It does not seem as though the members of the European Convention on the Future of Europe, deliberating since February 2002, collectively shared Schuman's domestic effort."

Malta is expected to outline its stand on the European Constitution during the Inter-Governmental Conference that opens on October 4 in Rome, the Eternal City, amid the very essence of religious worship.

Malta has promised to occupy a role that will render it active and directly involved in any affairs and matters that are at the heart of world, particularly European, interests. Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Gianfranco Fini has already stated that Italy will push for Christianity to be mentioned in the EU Constitution.

Fini admitted that it would be hypocritical not to have the political courage to state in the Constitution that Europe's respect for human rights stems from its Judeo-Christian roots. It is expected of our Maltese democratically elected representatives to do the same.

It is true that the Convention is headed by former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, and it is equally true that secular countries such as France have a constitutional separation of Church and State.

However, crusading for a more explicit reference to be included, as Pope John Paul II has already done, should be a priority for our government, also (but not only) because other states will be supporting this crusade. These include Italy, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, Spain, Portugal and Poland.

The case for including an express reference to religion, as Fr Grech explains, is that many of the great paradigms of reference mentioned as being the core of European civilisation, have their deepest roots in the Church's Trinitarian faith.

Among the values derived directly from Christian teachings, one finds "the central place of the human person and his inviolable and inalienable rights, respect for law, peace, freedom, justice and solidarity; unity in diversity".

Thus Christianity is "Europe's main founding religious inspiration. Modern Europe, which gave the democratic ideal and human rights to the world, drew its values from Christian heritage."

It is quite shocking, therefore, to see that mention is made of Greco-Roman cultures, the spiritual impulse and the philosophical currents of the Enlightenment as part of Europe's heritage, while Christianity is omitted.

Explicit reference to Christianity in no way prejudices the general right of freedom of conscience and religious worship, and this has already been catered for in Title VI of the Constitution entitled 'The Democratic Life of the Union.'

Healthy co-operation between the ecclesial community and political society is thus encouraged with a view to rigorous implementation. The EU, after all, has committed itself to enter into structured dialogue with Churches and religious organisations, rendering such institutions an important and contemporary European reality, which cannot be ignored or bypassed in any way.

It may only be hoped that a small state like Malta immediately shows di che pasta è fatta in Rome within a few days. In this way, no big European state can ever contemplate to hinder our voice within the Union or to silence our legitimate claims.