An organization places an election banner in front of the European Parliament in Brussels on April 29, 2024 (Virginia May/AP).
ROME – Two of Europe’s top prelates have written a letter on the eve of next month’s parliamentary elections, in which far-right parties that embrace skepticism about the EU are expected to make progress, stressing the importance of consolidating European unity and identity.
The letter, published on the occasion of European Day on May 9, was signed by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) and the Pope’s private envoy for peace in Ukraine, and by Bishop Mariano Crociata of Latina and president of the Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Union (COMECE).
In the letter, Zuppi and Crociata call the European Union a “friend,” their biggest preference for the EU being that “what you stand for and what you are can be strengthened. “
“You want it because other people occasionally talk bad about you and how many vital things you do!”they said, citing various EU movements and policies during the COVID-19 pandemic as examples.
They pointed out that the EU was created after two global wars, marked by horrors such as the Holocaust and the destruction of atomic bombs.
On the basis of this heritage, the EU’s founders – France’s Robert Schuman, Germany’s Konrad Adenauer and Italy’s Alcide de Gasperi – felt called, on the basis of their Christian faith, to “create anything that will bring war back to European soil,” he said.
Zuppi and Crociata praised the men’s vision for having been “intelligent, ambitious and courageous,” stating that “the strength that arises from unity has demonstrated the solidity of the path traveled and the choice to correct, adjust and understand. “
Stressing the importance of “living together” in European identity, they said the time has come for the EU to adopt “new institutional reforms that will enable it to meet the current challenges”.
“You can’t just be a bureaucracy. . . Directives and regulations alone do not strengthen cohesion. You want a soul!” They said, noting that member countries have continuously provided monetary aid to others, pulling their colleagues out of deep economic crises.
However, they noted that periods of hardship and “stagnation” have also occurred, saying, “These are amplified when we lose unity and vision of our not unusual long-term or when we oppose the realization that our destiny is not unusual and that we will. “We must continue to build a united Europe.
Zuppi and Crociata lamented that the war has wreaked havoc on European soil with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying Europe will have to “take on the mission of the founding fathers and build new peace pacts if we need the war against Ukraine to end, just like the ongoing war in the Middle East.
“Unity will have to be sought as an ever new and pressing task. You don’t have to wait for another crash to feel it!” they said.
The prelates also referred to the EU’s role externally and the spread of nationalist sentiments, stating that internal divisions prevent the EU from assuming “the role that would be expected from its ancient and cultural stature”.
“Some would like us to be better isolated, while any of their countries, even a giant one, would be fatally reduced to the weakest position,” they said.
For the EU to remain united, “we want shared motivations, not ideals, and unusual values that are valued and cultivated,” they said, believing that only unity can “overcome the tensions and contrasts that economic interests provoke in their intrinsic confrontation. “
Zuppi and Crociata lamented that nowadays “everything beyond the borders of one’s own country is distant, strange”, but insisted that “our common national soul and our European soul belong to each other”.
“From the beginning, you have been the Union of lax and sovereign countries that have given up part of their sovereignty in favor of a common and more powerful sovereignty,” they said, insisting that “no identity, no freedom is diminished. “.
“On the contrary, the safeguarding of the user’s autonomy is guaranteed within the framework of a structured and unbreakable relationship with all others,” they said, underlining the Christian contribution of the Christian religion in the founding of the EU.
They lamented the slow loss of Christian sentiment in EU policies, saying: “We suffer when we see that you are afraid of life, that you do not know how to protect and welcome it from beginning to end, and that you do not inspire life.
Zuppi and Crociata also pressed the EU on migration, saying: “You can’t just look inward. You can’t live just to feel smart; You have to feel smart enough in front of the world, fight injustice, fight poverty. “
Highlighting the role migrants can play in long-term construction and the desire to avoid tragedies at sea, they said Italy “stands alone, as if it were its own challenge or the challenge of only a few, which does not mean it deserves to close.
“Sooner or later we will be informed that responsibilities, including those relating to migrants, can only be shared to confront and resolve disorders that are not actually unusual,” they said, highlighting the role of Mediterranean and African countries in finding solutions. . a solution.
Europe, they said, wants a “new and solid way out of its path as a Union towards ever greater integration” capable of responding to existing challenges, such as a fair fiscal policy, a non-unusual defence strategy and an “assertive” policy. police.
They also push for the enlargement of the EU as “the guarantee of a force proportional to the unity it brings and expresses”.
“Along with democratically pursued institutional reforms, there is a desire to expand a common feeling, a shared appreciation of the values that underpin our coexistence in the European Union,” they said, arguing that “a new sense of citizenship” is needed.
Zuppi and Crociata said it requires “a sense of civic duty with a European vision, the awareness of the other peoples of the European continent that they are wonderful people. “
Referring to next month’s European parliamentary elections, the prelates described the vote as “a propitious and irreplaceable opportunity, which must be seized with hesitation. “
They lamented that concern and lack of trust triumph over difficulties, stating that “this also deserves to be heard, to show that you are the tool and the position to confront and overcome concerns and threats. “
“We call on everyone, applicants and citizens, starting with the 16-year-olds who will be voting for the first time in certain countries, to be aware of the importance of adding this civic gesture to participation in the life and life of the Union. “We are not going to be able to develop it,” they said.
Abstaining from voting, they said, “is the same as remaining impartial and at the same time giving others the strength to act without, or even against, our freedom, for which you will then have to assume your responsibility. “
“Absenteeism has the effect of increasing distrust of others, the loss of the opportunity to make one’s contribution to social life,” they said, considering that this in turn nullifies “any option and ability to work as a team within the European Union. “”.
“Our wish for you, dear European Union, is that this election circular will truly be an opportunity for revitalization, a resurgence of enthusiasm for a path not unusual,” they said.
Zuppi and Crociata’s decision comes at a time when polls expect significant gains for right-wing political parties across the EU, adding several seats in France, Germany and Italy.
From 6 to 9 June, some 370 million voters in the 27 EU countries will vote to elect the 720 lawmakers who will make up the next European Parliament.
Although centrist and left-wing parties are expected to retain the majority of seats, significant gains are expected from the right, as the electorate looks for opportunities for classical parties due to frustrations over the emerging life burden, growing power loads, and continued affluence. and a changing geopolitical landscape.
Two radical right-wing teams in particular, Identity and Democracy (ID) and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), are expected to win between 30 and 50 more seats, totalling between 22 and 25% of the current 18%.
In a May 10 op-ed by Stefano Fontana, a veteran journalist and former representative to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the conservative Italian Catholic news site Bussola Quotidiana questioned Zuppi and Crociata’s letter, arguing that it interpreted the Christian religion professionally. -Perspective of European ideology, which is the other way around.
“A worldly horizon is essential and is the very criterion for comparing the Christian faith, and not the other way around,” Fontana said, adding: “The European dream belongs to this pre-religious dimension and is, therefore, what guides Christianity. “to orient oneself through it.
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