Europe Without God Risks Building a Civilization of Fear and Sadness
1. The Holy Father, Benedict XVI, during his meeting last September with the world of Culture at the College des Bernardins in Paris, ended his address with the following words: "What gave Europe's culture its foundation — the search for God and the readiness to listen to him remains today the basis of any genuine culture".
Speaking about the relationship between the Word of God and Europe, every historical era could be taken into consideration and show the influence of the Bible on the various cultural, economic and political aspects. However, this is not the point of my intervention, neither as pertains to the breadth nor the content. One cannot separate Europe from Christianity, this is the incontrovertible fact from which I start, especially because Christianity is the privileged key for reading to understand our Continent in its entirety.
In fact, if we look at it from a geographical point of view, it is difficult to define the European boundaries, especially those bordering towards the East and the South-East. If we look at Europe from the political perspective and from the viewpoints that arise from this, we find the same problems because European heritage is far vaster than the political organizations of human cohabitation in a specific place.
The process of Christianization has united the determining factors of the European context, an evident point, however, Christianization, simply said, means the proclamation of the Word of God, capable of enlightening the different aspects of the life of men. Clearly though, Europe, in its historical evolution, has been marked not only by Christianity. But, we can reasonably state that Europe was born thanks to Christianity, and the Church has contributed to the building of Europe, thanks to the unflagging commitment by the proclaimers of Christ's salvation, as attested to in an exemplary way by the Patron Saints Benedict and Cyril and Methodius. There is no lack, however, of dark pages in its history which today seem in clear contrast to the Good News of the Gospel; and however, while linked to the spread of Christianity, they are but its suffering, negative effect, expression of the sin that lives in the heart of man. Here we will look at the part of European history that belongs to the mysterium iniquitatis.
There is an indissoluble bond between the Bible and Europe. All that has made European culture and civilization great — the Europe of the thousand cathedrals, the Europe of the custodians of the art treasures, of literature and Christian music, the Europe that expressed real signs of solidarity and service to the poor through the emphatic force of Christian charity — found their origins in the Bible. Themes such as human dignity, the recognition of human rights, the separation of Church and State — just to mention a few find their source in the Bible. Social justice, law, criticism towards any type of idolatry, the rejection of false images of God, have their foundation in the Bible. The Bible unites the East and the West, the North and the South of the Continent as well as the different Churches and Christian communities.
2. Reading the relationship between the Word of God and Europe could be fruitful, starting from the Instrumentum laboris with its three points: The mystery of the God who speaks — the Word of God in the life of the Church — the Word of God in the mission of the Church. These three articulate points offer the contents and the method for a path that, applied to the European reality, could promote a renewed conscience of the centrality or the Word in the lives of our communities. I will try to look at this from three stages: revelatio — interpretatio — celebratio, each centering the practice of the Lectio divina.
The proclaimed Word of God shows us God, a God who comes to man, offering man the possibility of discovering and learning about him in the mystery of one's life. The God of the Covenant, the God of Jesus Christ and the Paschal Mystery, which finds its fulfilment of the promises in the Old Testament — in the furrow of Hebrew spiritual heredity — was proclaimed on European soil; first to the people of the Greco-Roman world, in circumstances that often required the witness of martyrdom. The revelatio necessarily implied a distancing and overcoming the existing regulations in the life of that society, and however this "revolution" and "re-culturization" came about by adapting to the intelligibility and language of the times.
Even during prior eras, the missionary action — drawing from Revelation, which it bears — brought about as a consequence, and not as primary goal, inculturation offered a possibility of giving a new form of life to men to the Word of God, interpreted by Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church. This process was repeated in contacts with the Roman culture, with the Franco-Germanic culture, with the Slav and other people, as evangelization spread. This dynamic permeated the formation of European conscience in the Middle Ages, even if the external circumstances were very different. The interpretation certainly progressed during all eras — how to forget the fruitful season of the Patristic one — but in the second millennium, and above all with the Reform, important changes emerged, however oft-times attaining differences in a method of approach. All this created disputes, from its interpretation — necessary companion to evangelization and fruit of the Spirit in the Church and in the heart of believers — fruitful detachment from these disputes, avoiding new ones, finally took place. European Theology and pastoral ministry were mutually enriched, in their hermeneutical visions. The need, felt evermore today, to promote knowledge of the Bible is also necessary to avoid the danger of new "fundamentalist" readings and ideological drifting.
Therefore Revelation is not static, nor is it chronologically separated from other processes: in other words, the revelation is always accompanied by the interpretatio, practiced — finally — on man and on the world, which becomes the living and celebrated Word, giving the reason for being to the mission and the action of the Church.
3. Today in Europe, there are signs of a renewed interest in the Bible. Therefore, it is necessary to start from God and the event of his Revelation, and at the same time, with the courage of a new and more mature proposal of the Lectio divina. Referring to the Lectio divina, I not only think about the reading of the sacred text, which still always remains the essential reference for ecclesial discernment, nor do I think about the reading limited to restricting subjectivity. Rather, I think about listening to God which continuously acts upon history, unveiling his presence in every event. This will allow reading the life of the Church in Europe as a place where he reveals himself. This is how the Lectio divina, as reading in the Spirit, becomes the divine-human experience, whose subject is God Himself at work in the ecclesial body.
In a similar perspective, one may ask how to read the differences in opinions in the Church, the conflicts between people, but also how to face the cultural marginalization of Christianity, the search for freedom outside the presence of God. Now, if Christianity is the founding principle that embraces and unifies Europe, we should recognize the action of God which is revealed even if we deviate from the path, in our disagreements and conflicts, as well as in communion, with respect and altruism. This urges us to a Christianity that will not get involved in political or financial games, to the point of becoming unrecognizable.
The responsibilities of European Christians must not be limited to an exclusively economical or political reading of events. If we do not take on the methods offered by the Lectio divina — where we allow "God to read us" — direct consequences will arise in the celebration of God, the revealed and holy mystery, in the mission of the Church. In fact, in the Christian concept, the celebration is always also the actualization of the event of God who revealed himself in Jesus Christ, making himself present in the here and now of the history of man once again (re-praesentatio). Celebratio therefore becomes Lectio divina in its fullest sense. And in the Church that celebrates the risen Lord that the Word of God is made flesh, thus becoming the instrument of salvation for all men.
4. Europe is living its identity crisis on all three levels mentioned above. It seems it wishes to run away from the revealed God and is looking for the source of its identity closing itself into the humanum, an intentionally vague concept. When man does not listen to what God says, inevitably he will start speaking in God's place, but underlying this speaking is fear. Europe without God risks becoming a nest of anguish and builds a civilization of fear. The Word of God restores hope and joy.
Also, Europe goes into crisis when it does not accept the interpreting force of the Word of God, which finds in faith and inspiration its main foundation. This is an arduous task in all the scientific disciplines and especially for theology. Europe rightfully boasts its own development of theological thought, but there is a need for further efforts for a more productive confrontation with the new interpretations and scientific research, which often may divide from the hermeneutical paradigms of Christian truth. The rejection of the Word of God, as interpretation, leads Europe towards the culture of discouragement and insecurity.
In fact, a culture that breaks away from Christian celebration, that is to say the celebration of the Mystery of the Goodness of God and salvation achieved in Christ, endangers its own joy and pushes Europe towards a civilization of affliction and misery, which feels the burden of old age and death. Where there is a celebration of the Christian mysteries, the Church is youthful, and this guarantees the youthfulness of Europe as well.
5. The Lectio divina is not only an internal force for new inspiration in the apostolate, but also the foundation for the ecumenical movement and for inter-religious dialogue. This is the path of comprehension of the Word of God, which needs transcendency. This is also the place of freedom where the human answer can be found. In this human-divine dynamic, the Lectio divina therefore presents a transfiguring force. Rather, one can assert that Christ himself is Divina Lectio. To be a Christian, to be formed as Christ, to live Christianity, means "to be Lectio divina".
Therefore, the invitation to apply oneself to the Lectio divina has become urgent, the prayerful and meditated reading of the Word of God. Holy Scripture must be the starting point even for the most ordinary pastoral acts, because in this lies the strength of metaphorics (meaning beyond the text) and the transfiguration (the experience of the gift, experience of more than self sufficiency). Thus we can say as Saint Paul did: "For me, living is Christ".
This year we will have the possibility to look back on the life and the writings of St Paul frequently. The Apostle of the Gentiles interprets his mission as a "calling" and as a gift of Grace, never as an independent initiative. Saint Paul lays the foundation so that Christian spirituality is not only a spirituality of imitation, but also a spirituality of conformation. In the former the protagonist is the "I", the individual, the norm is the law and the basic virtue is the constant effort of the individual. But in spirituality of conformation the subject is the Holy Spirit who moulds Christ in the believer; the norm is the recognition of Grace which always precedes; the basic virtue is the willingness to allow Christ to take shape in one's own experience of life.
6. As I come from Zagreb in Croatia, where recently we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the beatification of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, I would like to add a thought in reference to him. In his homily, the Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, pointed out a particularly striking parallel between St Paul and the Bl. Alojzije Stepinac. He spoke first of their meeting with the risen Lord and then he underlined: "What is striking both for the Apostle Paul and for Cardinal Stepinac is that, while those who persecuted them were slaves to violent and lying ideologies, they — although deprived of their liberty — maintained their inner freedom: freedom to encourage and guide their friends, calm while supporting brothers of the faith, ready to forgive and pray for their enemies and for those who were causing them harm".
We who come from the part of Europe once dominated by dictatorial regimes, the last of which was communism, understand that the pastors and the faithful were able to resist the cruelty and horrors of ideology only because they trusted in the Word of God.
Filled by the Holy Spirit of Christ described in the Holy Scripture, many European Catholics and Christians in the 10th century were able to distinguish between good and evil, to resist totalitarianism, revealing its perverse and satanic deviation. Holy Scripture allowed them to discover not only the weaknesses of others and of themselves, but above all the hope that springs from that same Word of God. Hope in life that is stronger than death and destruction, hope in sense that is stronger than nonsense, hope in the care of God for the poor and oppressed, for those living on the edge of society, hope that led them to making a better and a more just world.
Therefore for we Europeans, regaining Christian memory and heritage — learning from past generations — means going back to the roots of our historical identity, drinking from the fountain of the Word of God. For we Europeans professing our faith, nourished by listening to the Word and by ecclesial experience, must take the form of bearing witness: causing all — believers an non-believers — to refer to the hope expressed by John Paul II in concluding his Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Europe — "to blaze new trails leading to a 'Europe of the spirit', in order to make the continent a true 'common home' filled with the joy of life" (EE, n. 121).
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