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For the ailing Pope John Paul II, whose 26-year papacy has seen a dramatic expansion of the Vatican’s authority worldwide, Catholicism’s waning influence in Europe is a source of deep dismay, Vatican officials say. The pontiff expressed his regret about the constitution to worshipers at last Sunday’s mass in St. Peter’s Square, urging Christians to continue to lobby Brussels, home of the European Commission.
“Taking into account the Christian roots of the European continent remains fundamental for the future development of the union,” he told the pilgrims.
The omission is more than symbolic. Had the reference been included, the Vatican would have been able to challenge Europe-wide legislation that conflicted with its teachings as unconstitutional, said Marco Politi, the Vatican correspondent for Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper.
Instead, the church fears that its teachings will be swept aside, even in countries where it still has influence, by the emerging new European bureaucracy.
“There’s a real feeling that the church is under an attack, an aggression, and that it must defend itself against this wave of de-Christianization,” Politi said.
The Vatican long ago surrendered authority over the largely Protestant nations of Northern Europe, which broke, often bloodily, with Catholicism in centuries past. Gay marriage is legal in Belgium and the Netherlands, and some form of same-sex union is recognized in several other countries. Britain is making huge strides in the field of embryonic stem cell research. Abortion and divorce are readily available in many European nations.
The prospect that such practices could take hold even in Catholic strongholds is being perceived by some powerful church figures as a threat to Christianity’s very existence. In much publicized comments last month, Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, attacked what he called a “new holy inquisition” targeting Catholicism in Europe by groups “motivated predominantly by prejudice toward all that is Christian.”
It’s not just a question of Christianity or even Catholicism, said Archbishop John Foley, head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.
“Taking into account the Christian roots of the European continent remains fundamental for the future development of the union,” he told the pilgrims.
The omission is more than symbolic. Had the reference been included, the Vatican would have been able to challenge Europe-wide legislation that conflicted with its teachings as unconstitutional, said Marco Politi, the Vatican correspondent for Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper.
Instead, the church fears that its teachings will be swept aside, even in countries where it still has influence, by the emerging new European bureaucracy.
“There’s a real feeling that the church is under an attack, an aggression, and that it must defend itself against this wave of de-Christianization,” Politi said.
The Vatican long ago surrendered authority over the largely Protestant nations of Northern Europe, which broke, often bloodily, with Catholicism in centuries past. Gay marriage is legal in Belgium and the Netherlands, and some form of same-sex union is recognized in several other countries. Britain is making huge strides in the field of embryonic stem cell research. Abortion and divorce are readily available in many European nations.
The prospect that such practices could take hold even in Catholic strongholds is being perceived by some powerful church figures as a threat to Christianity’s very existence. In much publicized comments last month, Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, attacked what he called a “new holy inquisition” targeting Catholicism in Europe by groups “motivated predominantly by prejudice toward all that is Christian.”
It’s not just a question of Christianity or even Catholicism, said Archbishop John Foley, head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.
