EASR 2018 Multiple Religious Identities Program_final.pdf (original) (raw)
Related papers
On the Spiritual Foundation of Europe
2019
The European Union came into being in 1993, under the Treaty of Maastricht signed in the previous year. Its creation was a result of a long process of European integration which was achieved mostly in its economic and social dimensions. Currently, the emphasis seems to be placed on the political character of the union, as demonstrated by the growth and strengthening of the range of its institutions. However, what escapes our attention is the spiritual integration, which should become the foundation of any attempts at unification. This is because the nature of integration is not only economic and political, but, above all, spiritual; though we should remember that it cannot be brought about at the expense of quashing our cultural, religious and ethnic differences (Muszyński H.J., 2002, p. 28.46–48). The spiritual dimension of integration gains particular importance in times of great crises. It seems that one of them is currently facing us, affecting the EU structures and European com...
Europai Füzetek , 2003
An inventory of the common heritage of the people of Europe stresses the importance of the ties that have developed in the course of history: political ties particularly with the roman influence, religious, cultural or intellectual ties... Indeed, Europe has no definite geographical boundaries which on the contrary proves that it recognises itself more in values than in borders. Following a non linear process of maturation, Europe has given itself four com-plementary values: equality, with its corollary respect of charity, freedom, creativity and open mindness, and division of powers. Gérard-François Dumont shows that European identity results from the capacity to move towards an ideal of common values within the diversity of the genius proper to each of its peoples. It supposes to put aside imperialist and bureaucratic temptations as well as malthusian attempts towards inequality, to better build its future for the service of man.
The paper analyses a potential relationship between religion and politics in the context of the EU's motto, unity in diversity. It's aimed at verifying the thesis that claims the European Union's identity motto has its roots in the ecclesial model of identity. The following analysis is a two-stage one. First, it considers whether the Church's and the EU's respective "unities in diversity" mean a similar thing; secondly, it elaborates the channels (cultural, ecclesial and political) through which the ecclesial model has been transferred into European politics. In the last part of the contribution, the author considers the significance of the ecclesial experience for the current European integration debates.