Christianity and the European Constitution

On June 20 the draft of the European Constitution was given the green light by the leaders of the European Union member and prospective member states' meeting at the Thessaloniki summit. This does not mean that the Constitution is "in the bag". Some points are still to be discussed, clarified, agreed to or changed.

One of the arguments that will be further debated is what kind of reference there should or should not be to God and Christianity in the Constitution. The Christian churches in Europe lobbied strongly for the inclusion of a mention of both. The Vatican and the Pope in person played a very important role in this discussion.

The draft presented to the European leaders at Thessaloniki is a great improvement on the original drafts. The role which the Churches in the Union should play is adequately mentioned and there is the guarantee that Church-State relations will be treated at the level of each country and not of the Union as a whole.

The Commission of European Catholic Bishops' Conferences (COMECE) has welcomed the new draft of the proposed European Constitution, while voicing criticism of a preamble that still omits any specific reference to the continent's Christian heritage.

One should remember that a previous draft referred to the contribution to European culture made by the Greeks and by the Enlightenment, while omitting any reference to Christianity. The drafting committee responded to that criticism by removing all specific references from the preamble. The COMECE leaders welcomed that step. Their statement read: "By removing the references to Greece, Rome, and the Enlightenment, the historical inaccuracy of omitting Christianity has been corrected."

However, the COMECE leaders made a mild bid to include Christianity in the preamble. "In our view, however, an inclusive reference to the contribution of Christianity, without which Europe would not be what it is today, remains essential," the bishops said.

All in all, COMECE's assessment is a positive one as it described the draft as a "remarkable achievement". There are several reasons why the European bishops give a positive assessment. They regard the invocation of Europe's religious heritage as a significant advance for the EU and welcome the fact that the values and objectives of the future EU correspond to the social teaching of the Church.

The bishops welcome the incorporation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which they see as an important step in protecting citizens' rights, and underline the confirmation that it will apply only to the actions of the EU. They propose that the EU, once it has legal personality, should sign the European Convention of Human Rights.

They also greet with approval the draft Constitution's section on the democratic life of the Union, especially the proposed Article 51 on Churches and religious communities.

A number of Catholic politicians have already stated publicly that they will continue lobbying to improve the Constitution by having a direct reference to Christianity. Antonio López Istúriz, secretary-general of the European Popular Party, confirmed that "the president of the party, José María Aznar, will defend the explicit mention of the Christian heritage in the preamble of the European Constitution, before the Intergovernmental Conference.

"The work of the Intergovernmental Conference will be a decisive moment in the redaction of the European Constitution, and, just as President Aznar announced in Salonika, it is necessary once again to defend the Christian heritage, without which it is unthinkable to speak of Europe," he stressed.

Franco Frattini, the Italian Foreign Minister, added that his government would seek to have Christianity mentioned in the document, when the rotating presidency of the European Union, now held by Greece, changes on July 1. Otherwise, he said, "Christian tradition, a fact of European history, would be denied."

The Polish prime minister took a similar position.

Has the Government of Malta taken an official position on this subject?

Mario and Anna Cappello, directors of the ICPE Missions, are organising a petition. They are appealing to different groups and individuals to send an e-mail to important people involved in the drafting of the Constitution asking them to have an explicit reference to Christianity.

Those interested can use anyone of the following e-mail addresses: valery.giscard-d'estaing@consilium. eu.int; giuliano.amato@iol.it; john. bruton@oireachtas.irlgov.ie; jean.luc.dehaene@vilvoorde.be; alfonso.dastis@ue.mae.es.