The Lisbon Treaty's commitment to dialogue with the Church opens up a potential new relationship between the Church and the EU. Michael Kelly reports from Brussels on a conference exploring the dialogue
For the first time in the history of European integration the Lisbon Treaty, which came in to force on December 1, recognises the specific contribution of the Christian churches and other faith groups to the continent. While some people lament the lack of a reference to the historic Christian roots of Europe, the Treaty's obligation to dialogue with people of faith may ultimately prove considerably more beneficial.
This dialogue, contained in article 17 of the Treaty, was the subject of a conference in Brussels December 3 attended by members of the European Parliament and organised by Dublin's Gay Mitchell MEP.
Entitled 'Unity in Diversity' and run under the auspices of the European Peoples Party, the conference sought to explore avenues that the dialogue with faith communities might explore. The Irish Catholic columnist David Quinn was one of the keynote speakers and outlined areas of concern that religious people have with some of the trends in the European Union. Mr Quinn pointed in particular to an over-zealous application of equality legislation that is threatening religious freedom.
For his part, Jorge César das Neves, a member of the Bureau of European Policy Advisers with responsibility for religious dialogue, insisted that the EU is awake to the concerns of religious people. He insisted that religious people have a right to make their voice heard at European level and that the EU wanted more input from people of faith.
MEP pleads for religious unity
Gay Mitchell has warned religious people that unless they present a unified front to politicians they risk failing to achieve their goals.
Speaking at the end of the conference which heard from representatives of differing faith traditions Mr Mitchell said ''unless there is some unity between religious believers, be they Catholic, Protestant, Jewish or Muslim, it will be impossible to be heard.
''There's far too much energy wasted on fighting and disagreeing among religious people,'' he said.
''Unless we get our house in order we will all wake up some morning, secularists will have seized all the ground and we'll wonder what happened,'' he said.
Europe needs Christian roots - Italian senator
Too many Europeans are ignoring their Christian roots an influential Italian senator and author has said. Speaking at the 'unity in diversity' seminar Senator Marcello Pera (above), who co-authored a book with Pope Benedict XVI on moral relativism, argued that it is impossible to think of Europe without reference to the Christian roots.
''It is not simply enough to talk about the religious inheritance of Europe, it is a Christian inheritance that we must concentrate on.''
''After every new treaty or every step of the laborious process of European unification, we all feel the duty to ask ourselves: 'Europe, where are you going?' I propose to turn upside down the question: 'Where have you come from Europe'?'' he said.
Senator Pera also questioned why European leaders refuse to raise the issue of religious freedom in the Islamic world. ''Europe grants maximum religious freedom to all faiths, yet never raises a protest about the martyrdom of Christians in many Islamic countries with whom the EU has excellent relations''.
Mr Pera, who was Chair of the Italian Senate for several years, also raised the issue of moral relativism, the belief that there is no objective truth. ''We cannot say that all religions and cultures are equal, they are not,'' he said.
The Lisbon Treaty - Article 17
1. The Union respects and does not prejudice the status, under national law, of churches and religious associations or communities in the Member States.
2. The Union equally respects the status under national law of philosophical and non-confessional organisations.
3. Recognising their identity and their specific contribution, the Union shall maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with these churches and organisations.
