Theos on the EU: A soul for the Union demands ‘an act of theopolitical imagination’
By Archbishop Cranmer:
In their latest report, A Soul for the Union, Theos have done us a great service on the (protracted) eve of our long-promised EU referendum. Ben Ryan delves beneath the usual arid matters of politics and economics to provide a glimpse of the spiritual forces at work – the principalities and powers, if you will – and wrestles with the muddled and murky history the EU’s philosophical genesis, its moral vision and religious identity. What began as a bold expression of Roman Catholic Social Teaching (human dignity, peace, solidarity, subsidiarity) in response to the evils of Nazism and Fascism has been incrementally undermined by the bureaucratic elite in pursuit of political union and economic governance. Europe, Ryan avers, needs to rediscover a soul for the Union.
The report acknowledges the support of the Christian Political Foundation for Europe (CPFE), which is financially supported by the European Parliament. It is therefore not one which can argue freely for an apprehension of a fundamental theo-political or religio-philosophical incompatibility between the UK and the EU: in his Foreword, Professor John Loughlin attributes lasting peace in Europe to the EU (as opposed to NATO); credits peace in the Balkans to the prospect of EU membership (as opposed to the 60,000-strong NATO force deployed); and ascribes fraternity among European youth to the Erasmus student exchange (as though no national educational programmes were effective before 1987). What we get, therefore, is a plea for:
..a reformulation of a moral vision to meet contemporary challenges such as the democratic deficit, the aberrant dominance of market-based approaches to public policy, the migrant and refugee crisis, and the environment. (Because), as Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI continually reiterated, Europe should not turn its back on its Christian roots which have shaped its values and institutions. This does not mean a return to Christendom but a return to a deeper and wider understanding of what it means to be a European.
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
