Pope nominated for "European of the Year"

John Paul II is among the candidates for "European of the Year". The selection was made by European Voice, a weekly English-language newspaper published in Brussels and widely read in European Union institutions."

The Pope has been selected "for championing EU enlargement in his native Poland and for his plea to include Christian values - without excluding other traditions - in the Convention on the Future of Europe" (Brussels, October 9).

A day before this exciting nomination, on the eve of the EU enlargement referendum, the Irish Catholic Bishops issued the following statement: "We wish to reaffirm our support for the European Union as being in the best interests of our people". As they see it, "the purpose of the European Union is serving the common good in promoting justice and harmony for all."

Some of us are under the mistaken impression that that European integration is solely an economic and political option. This is totally incorrect. To quote the Bishops' statement, the European Union is: "a significant contributor to world peace... internal peace resulting from new forms of social and political cooperation, and external peace, through the EU's contribution to global development and resolving conflict".

Expressing their solidarity with those states currently negotiating to become members of the European Union, the Bishops' statement goes on to stress that "the importance of the principle of subsidiarity on which the whole European process depends, not only at international and national level but at local level as well. This is the crucial precondition which enables citizens to participate fully and effectively".

I have no doubt that on the eve of our referendum our own bishops will also "strongly urge everybody to be as fully informed as possible and to cast their votes in the referendum". They will caution that "whatever our personal reactions to the arguments of those professionally involved in the present campaign, we are all challenged to confront the deficit of trust as a potentially destructive force in our society".

They will advise that "the only solution is to listen carefully to what is being said and to take account of both sides of the debate". And conclude that there are "many competent and trustworthy people who have worked hard and who continue to work hard at all levels to make a success of the European Union".

It is amazing how some local politicians "still refuse to see beyond our shores and to consider the common good of Europe as a whole and to recognise the legitimate aspirations and expectations of other European countries".

How do they insist on discarding the reality that the European Union "utterly rejects untrammelled capitalism, provides social protection, ensures fair-trading conditions and regulates the protection of the environment for the present and future generations"?

For their benefit, this is the broad vision of the Pope for the EU, or better still for what he calls "the new institutional order". By establishing the link with the past, with the Christian heritage of Europe, he is spelling out for us the need for a source of inspiration and spiritual energy without which there can be no future for Europe as a "life-giving and life-enhancing community".

The European Union was deliberately and carefully built on the recognition of the widest diversity of cultural, religious, ethnic and regional difference. Interdependence is a novel experiment in political organisation, one which is based on the sovereignty of nation states and their need to cooperate together in a culture of peace and harmony. It should also be noted that the principle of subsidiarity is built into the Treaty of Maastricht (Article 3b).

As for nonsensical allegation that the European Union member states profess "unchristian values", allow me to refer them to the Pope's message to a European Study Congress which took place in Rome earlier this year.

According to the Irish bishops,. his list is worth giving in full, if only because it sets out explicitly an agenda for the Church regarding the European Union.

"There are in all seven sets of values mentioned:

(1) the sacred character of human life;

(2) the central role of the family founded on marriage;

(3) the importance of education, freedom of thought, of speech and of the profession of personal convictions and religion;

(4) the legal protection of individuals and groups;

(5) the collaboration of all for the common good; (6) work seen as a personal and social good;

(7) political power understood as a service, subject to law and reason and limited by the rights of the person and of peoples."

The current Irish attitude to Europe mirrors our very own. It demonstrates the need for basic informational, education and explanation.

"Political leadership alone, however dedicated to the task, and the distinguished service of a small number of civil servants are insufficient without public involvement... the genuine pooling of sovereignty in today's world works in favour of rather than against national and regional identity. This is necessary to overcome growing cynicism and disenchantment".

"We need to be people who believe in trust and solidarity. We need to be dedicated to building up trust and solidarity where they are in short supply. If we fail in these two crucial areas, we will be left behind. There is no halfway house."

The Pope has warned us "against opting out, against seeking refuge in nostalgia for the past, against burying our heads in the sand. His encyclical letter warns us of fanaticism and fundamentalism".

As Europeans we cannot deny our Christian heritage. Neither can we ignore the supplementary call to Irish Catholics "to heed the advice of St Paul and wake up "to arm ourselves and appear in the light" (Rom. 13:12).