Europe, Christianity, and abortion. (News in Brief).

Rome -- In January of this year, the Holy Father lamented that believers are being marginalized from the process of European integration. At the last European summit held in Belgium he said, "No explicit mention was made of communities of religious believers."

"The marginalization of religious, which have contributed and continue to contribute to the culture of humanism of which Europe is legitimately proud, strikes me as both an injustice and an error of perspective. This indisputable historical fact in no way means to disregard the modern demand for states to have an appropriate non-confessional character, and therefore Europe as well."

In January, Achille Chiapeffi, professor of public law at the University of La Sapienza in Rome, said he was convinced that the European Charter would have to be Christian, because the history of the Old World is marked by natural values that are defended by Christianity. "Religion entails enormous values for man," he said. "Moreover, without the Christian religion, we would not have arrived at this level of our civilization." (Zenit, Jan, 28/02).

East

In early February, Eastern European bishops met European Union officials to try to ensure that enlargement of the EU does not come at the expense of weak social groups such as agricultural workers. They hope that the admission of new Eastern countries will contribute to the affirmation of Christian values, such as the dignity of the human person, solidarity, and the principles of the Church's social doctrine, especially subsidarity.

Bishops

In May the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union submitted a series of recommendations to the European Convention. They said that the Convention's proposals offered a unique opportunity to enhance the Union's contribution to peace and prosperity in Europe and fulfil its responsibility for promoting development, justice, and freedom elsewhere in the world. In particular, they recommended that an EU constitution should contain an invocation to God. This would acknowledge that public power is not absolute and cannot guarantee the freedom of the human person.

Fundamental rights should be recognized, including religious freedom in its individual, collective, and institutional dimensions. "Moreover," the Bishops said, "the great religious, spiritual and intellectual movements and traditions should be recognized as a living heritage of Europe." And "the contribution of churches and religious communities to society should be acknowledged, and the constitution should provide for a structured dialogue between European institutions and churches and religious communities."

In an appeal to the European Convention reported on June 24, the Holy Father argued that a possible European Constitution would have to respect the dignity of the person, the sacred character of human life, the central role of the family, and freedom of thought and expression. He spoke of the risk of legitimizing the manifestations of laicism, agnosticism, and atheism which lead to the exclusion of God and of the moral law.