Support for the Vatican’s campaign to get God into the European Union (EU) constitution grew in October as more EU leaders backed calls by Poland, Italy and Spain to have a stronger mention of Europe’s religious heritage in the charter, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Germany, Ireland, Austria, Portugal, Slovakia and the Netherlands said they had no problems in giving greater prominence in the charter text to the historical role and impact of Europe’s Judeo Christian heritage. The 15 EU leaders and 10 counterparts from countries that will join next May began a final round of talks on a first constitution. They said it would be ready in mid-December.
“The inclusion of an explicit reference (to God and religion) will not fail because of Germany,” Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told AP. “I don’t have a problem with that proposal.”
The preamble to the draft of the constitutional text contains a very vague reference to Christianity. It merely says Europe draws “inspiration from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance … still present in its heritage.”
At the summit, Italy and Poland pushed hard for a more specific reference to God and religion.
“The Italian government believes that the common religious heritage should be explicitly referred to with the values of Judeo-Christian traditions,” said Italy’s Deputy Premier Gianfranco Fini. The French, however, don’t seem to agree.
“In France, everyone is free to believe and practice their religion. Or they can choose not to believe,” French President Jacques Chirac told the press.
“There should be no favoritism in religions.”
Any reference to religion was a highly divisive issue in 18 months of preliminary negotiations over the draft text in a 105-member European Convention, led by ex-French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing.
He managed to thwart conservative convention members who sought to give Christianity a leading mention in influencing Europe’s cultural roots.
(EP)
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