TO THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH: WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
TO THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH: WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Summary/Abstract: This talk has its origin in an invitation from my dear friend, Rusmir Mahmutćehajić, whom I have been meeting each year for the past several years at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Last February, he challenged me gently, saying “you should come and speak to us about this ‘Christian Europe’ advocated by the last two Popes!” I am not a specialist and I am certainly not an official from the Vatican. So I will present here one opinion about this topic. I was born in a strong Catholic French family devoted to “Cross and Crown,” (with clerics and army officers in every generation at least since the French Revolution). I remember how shocked we were when the former president of France prevented the European constitution from including a reference to the Christian roots of Europe, despite the ardent wish of John Paul II, backed by several other countries. We were ashamed that, of all nations, ours, once dubbed “the eldest daughter of the Church,” should fight decisively against it.Was it mere confessional self defense?

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