Religion News Service
VATICAN CITY, October 28, 2004: When European Union leaders gather in Rome to sign their new constitution Friday, October 29, they will rebuff Pope John Paul II and his effort to acknowledge Christianity in the historic document. The Roman Catholic pontiff has often voiced concern about Europe’s increasingly secular society. In the signing of a constitution that does not acknowledge Europe’s religious history, the Vatican sees proof that the EU is distancing itself from Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. The drafters of the constitution have made it clear for months that they would ignore the pope’s tireless two and a half year campaign for explicit Christian recognition in the constitution’s preamble. The pope’s opponents, with France, Belgium and Finland in the forefront, argued that a reference to Christianity would have violated the principle of church-state separation. The charter, which still must be ratified by all 25 members of the enlarged EU to take effect, does uphold religious freedom, however. Nonetheless, John Paul is clearly upset. “You don’t cut off the roots from which you have grown,” the pope said with unusual bitterness when forced to acknowledge defeat last June.