Abp M. Fitzgerald: The christian roots of Europe and religious pluralism today

Religious pluralism is not a new phenomenon in Europe, for there have always been different religious communities living side by side in the continent. Yet it must be said that this pluralism has increased, particularly in the last half century, The first part of this paper will examine the relationship between Christianity and other religions in past history. The second part will look at these relations in the present and the future.

*European Culture and Religious Pluralism*

In the preparation for the first European Synod, held in December 1991, a request had been made to reflect on the „Christian roots” of European culture1. The summary of the responses to the preliminary questionnaire stated: „”the present plurality of religions, cultures and humanisms, calls for a greater common effort to understand more fully, by reflecting on their respective roots, the meaning of European identity as a unitas multiplex. A reflection document prepared on the Christian roots of Europe did not accept that Christian and European were coterminous. On the one hand Christianity could not be considered as an essentially European phenomenon. On the other, one could be a European without being Christian. Thus to talk about the Christian roots of Europe means simply that Christianity enters in as a necessary reference point in European identity.

The relator of the Synod, Cardinal Ruini, in his opening position paper put the matter in the following way: „Christian faith formed the crucible in which the classical Greco-Roman heritage, the original characteristics of the Celtic, German, Slav and Hungaro-Finnish peoples, as well as Jewish culture and Islamic contributions, were brought together in a process of cross-fertilization which resulted in an original and very rich civilization.”

Each of the elements listed by Cardinal Ruini could be examined to see how relevant they are today. One could point to the influence of Aristotelian logic and Platonic (or neo-Platonic) idealism, as well as by the canons of Greek art. Similarly, architectural remains testify to the importance of Roman engineering, and legislation in many countries of Europe owes a debt to Roman law. I myself, with my Irish background, would be inclined to recall the Celtic influences. Others here may wish to insist more on Germanic or Slav contributions, of which there is or perhaps, better, should be greater consciousness with the enlargement of the European Union.

These are cultural elements, but Cardinal Ruini called attention to two religious contributions, the Jewish and the Islamic, and it is well to deal with these at greater length. The image of the crucible was used, and this would appear to be apt, for it suggests a fusion of different elements brought about by heat. The heat may come simply from proximity, from close cooperation, but more often it may result from friction. The interreligious history of Europe as known periods of cooperation but, it must be admitted, it has been largely marked by friction.

1 The infomlation on the Synod for Europe is based on Teresa GONCALVES, Le synode pour 1’Europe et 1a dimension inter-re1igieuse, in Bulletin. Pontificum Cons ilium pro Dialogo inter Religiones 79(1992) pp.27-36.
Jews in Europe

It is good to remind ourselves that the Jewish presence in Europe preceded that of Christians. When Paul, responding to a dream, stepped on European soil for the first time he met with pious women gathering for prayer by the riverside on the Sabbath (Ac 16:13). The text of Acts does not state explicitly that these women were Jews, but this can be supposed. Paul taught in the synagogues of Thessaloniki and Beroea, and again in Athens and Corinth (Ac 17:1-4. 10-12.17; 18:4). He teamed up with Aquila and Priscilla, Jews expelled from Rome following an edict of Emperor Claudius (Ac

18:1-3). Arriving later as a prisoner in Rome, Paul was able to call together leading Jews (Ac 28:17).
The Christian Scriptures, the Gospels and Acts, as well as the writings of Paul, bear witness to the strained relations caused by the appearance of a new „way,,2. The two minority communities coexisted in tension, characterized by a certain amount of rivalry and polemics. With the baptism of Constantine, Christianity got the upper hand, and gradually the civil powers could be used against the Jews, discriminatory administrative measures being backed up by theological arguments. The accusation of deicide will long be invoked to justify harsh treatment. The Crusades, whose principal aim was to rescue the Holy Places from Muslim control, did not directly concern Jews. Yet it was easy to slip from fighting the „infidels abroad” to eliminating the „infidels within”. Though some Christian rulers protected the Jews living in their realms, and bishops preached against the deviation of the Crusades, in other places many Jews were slaughtered. There was an evident gap between official teaching and actual practice.

Yet all was not dark in the Middle Ages. Despite the negative attitudes they often met, Jews were able to own land, to engage in professional activities, to become part of the commercial class, and thus to develop into small but thriving communities. Mention should be made of the fine symbiosis of Jews, Christians and Muslims in Toledo, even after the „reconquista” had begun. This however was not to last, for the Jews were expelled from Spain by their Catholic Majesties in 1492, many of them finding refuge in Ottoman Turkey.

*The Muslim neighbour*

Europe’s relations with Muslims were very different from those with the Jews. Islam was seen as a threat from outside rather than a presence within. There were, of course, notable exceptions, since Islam took possession of certain areas of Europe following the Arab invasions of Sicily and the Iberian peninsula, and later the Ottoman advances into the Balkans. Other areas of Europe, such as this country, have known the presence of Muslim communities for many centuries. Yet most of the continent did not come into direct contact with Muslims.

Islam was considered alien, a completely different system of beliefs and practices. Fear and hostility nourished preconceptions and prejudices. Yet some Church people, such as Peter the Venerable of Cluny, recognized the need for accurate knowledge based on sources. He it was who set the English monk, Robert of Ketton, to translate the Qur’an into Latin. The friar Roger Bacon encouraged the study of Islamic philosophy. It must be remembered that the cultural symbiosis, already mentioned, had put into currency in the Latin world many works of the great Arab philosophers, al-Kindi, alFarabi, Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes). Another friar, Ramon Lull, emphasized the need for language study, not only to understand Islam but for easier contact with Eastern Christians to be sought as allies against the Muslims. The Council ofVienne (1311-1312) decreed that chairs of Arabic should be set up in the leading universities, but the decision came too late. Europe was losing its unity, especially its unity of thought. There was little energy left for an intellectual approach to Islam. An additional factor was the Mongol conquest and the consequent fall of Baghdad which brought about a decline in Islamic civilization, not really compensated for by the rise of the Ottoman Empire. The Renaissance in Europe also brought with it a change in attitude. The urge was to go back to the Greek originals, dismissing as unimportant and misleading the medieval translations received through the Arabs. A further element was the discovery of the Americas, leading to a new vision of the world where Islam had a much more restricted place.

2 On relations between Jews and Christians see SAPERSTEIN Marc, Moments of Crisis in Jewish-Christian Relations, London, SCM, 1989.
3 For a fuller treatment see Michael L. FITZGERALD, Christians and Muslims in Europe: perspectives for dialogue, in Encounter. Documents for Muslim-Christian Understanding no247 (July-August 1998)
At the time of the Enlightenment there developed a tendency to glorify Islam as a rational religion, a Deism without dogmas. Orientalists undertook serious studies, but much of their work was tainted by association with colonialism. For many, perhaps for most, it was difficult to avoid the spirit of the age, namely condescension towards Muslims. It required the efforts of scholars such as Louis Massignon to reverse this trend. His own spiritual experience in „terre d’Islam”, and perhaps also his own anti-colonial stance, led him to take a more sympathetic view of Islam. He thus paved the way for the new attitude of respect enjoined by the Second Vatican Council.

The history of relations between Christians and other religions in Europe is therefore chequered. Yet they form part of the development of European culture. This has brought together many different strands, yet, as the Synod for Europe stated in its final Declaration, „No one can deny the decisive contribution of Christian faith as the radical and permanent foundation of Europe.”

*Religious communities in Europe today*

Despite the tragedy of the Shoah, European Jewry has survived. The communities are small, but often well structured, holding a well-established place in society. These communities have experienced temptations leading in opposite directions. Among some there is a desire to integrate, to become fully accepted, with the danger of the loss of religious identity. For others identity is so important that it must be preserved at all costs, even at the price of isolation. The Chief Rabbi of the Orthodox communities of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, Jonathan Sachs, is well aware of the tugs in these opposite directions. He has encouraged Jews, and people of other religions too, to develop a double language -not to be confused with duplicity. He says that communities should be steeped in their own traditions, thus reinforcing their religious identity, but should at the same time be conversant with the medium of communication with the wider community. This will make possible, in fact, the formation of a community of communities.
The centuries old communities of Muslims in the Balkans have been joined in Europe, over the last fifty years or so, by large numbers of immigrants3. The total number of Muslims in Europe may reach 25 million, with about half that number in Russia. The distribution is uneven, with large numbers to be found in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, while less in absolute numbers but amounting to quite a high proportion of the total population in the Benelux countries. The origins of these immigrants are extremely diverse, and the numbers and diversity are constantly increasing. Religious diversity should also be taken into account. Most Muslims in Europe are Sunnis, but there is also a Shi’ite presence. Ismailis, a particular branch of the Shi’a, followers of the Aga Khan, are to be found in the U.K. and elsewhere. There are also long-established Ahmadiyya communities, especially in the U.K. and in the Netherlands.

The legal status of Muslims also varies from country to country, reflecting in some way the variety of current Church-State relations. Belgium was the first country to give official recognition to Islam, as early as 1974. Austria followed in 1979, though there already existed a legislative bases dating back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In Germany the State maintains a position of neutrality towards religions. These can become „publicly recognized corporations” (Koperschaft
offentlichen Rechts), with consequent tax benefits. Recognition would be given by the individual Lander. If this has not happened with regard to Muslims, it is because of their lack of internal unity. Something similar could be said of the Netherlands and also of Italy, where Muslims are pressing the Government to establish an agreement (intesa) but have not been able to constitute an agreed interlocutor to carry out the negotiations. In France, under pressure from the Government, such a

3 For a fuller treatment see Michael L. FITZGERALD, Christians and Muslims in Europe: perspectives for dialogue, in Encounter. Documents for Muslim-Christian Understanding no247 (July-August 1998)
body has been set up, though some Muslims do not feel themselves represented by the Council whose representation is based on places of worship.

Some mention should be made of other religious communities present in Europe. With regard to Buddhists, it is in France that their presence is strongest due to immigration from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Nevertheless there are Buddhist foundations and communities, of all traditions, in most countries of Europe. The number of converts to Buddhism may not be large, but the attraction of this religion goes well beyond the circle of those who have formally taken refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.

Hindus are to be found mainly in the U.K. where a number of temples have been built in recent years. It is interesting to notice that their relations with civil authorities would be appear to raise few problems. Sikhs, who form a high proportion of the population of Asian origin in the U.K., have had to struggle to gain acceptance for the men’s distinctive head-gear. The small Sikh community in France, whose presence had almost gone unnoticed, suddenly came to prominence when the turban was also named as one of the ostentatious religious symbols banned in public schools. Other religious groups, Jains, Zoroastrians, Baha’I, are far less numerous, but do playa part in interreligious relations in multi-religious organizations. The current European President of the World Conference Religions for Peace is a Zoroastrian from the U.K.

*Interaction between Christians and people of other religions *

European society has become ethnically, culturally and religiously plural. This can be considered disastrous, the other being looked upon as a threat, and thus lead to a spirit of exclusion, or it can be seen as a source of enrichment. For Christians, the parable of the Good Samaritan, and particularly the teaching the Jesus draws from it, can be taken as a guide. We are not to wait for others to be neighbours to us, but are called to become neighbours to them. This means establishing contacts, finding ways of bringing people together, precisely at the level of the neighbourhood. This requires effort and a good deal of perseverance. People who act in this way could be rightly called „peacemakers” and will surely receive the reward of peacemakers.

Spontaneous relations are important, but so also are more institutional contacts. These may be bilateral: Christians and Jews, such as the International Council of Christians and Jews, or the various Amities Judeo-Chretiennes), or Buddhists and Christians (the Buddhist-Christian Society of Europe). They may be trilateral, Jews, Christians and Muslims: la Fraternite d’Abraham, the Three Faiths Forum, les En/ants d’Abraham. They may be multi-lateral: WCRP, already mentioned, the World Congress of Faiths, the Inter Faith Network in the U.K., but also at a more local level such bodies as Esperance Marseille. These bodies make it possible for both leaders and „ordinary”
believers to meet. They facilitate formal dialogue, or exchange for better understanding and cooperation. Such interreligious structures can often make a positive contribution to the wider society.

The networking may have a particular impact where social and moral values are concerned. The fight against anti-Semitism leads to wider concerns about discrimination, whether it take the form of islamophobia or christianophobia. Scientific and technological advances raise questions of bioethics where religiously-minded people can give united voice in defence of human dignity. People of different religions may be found together in promoting non-violence, advocating greater respect for refugees and asylum seekers, calling for the remission of debt for poorer countries, arousing greater attention to dangers to the environment. In all these fields there is ample room for a „dialogue of action”.

There are times also when people of different religions will want to pray together. Pope John Paul II invited Christians and people of other religions to Assisi to pray for peace in the world in 1986, and again in 1993 to pray for peace in Europe and particularly in the Balkans, and yet again in 2002 as a response to the events of 11 September 2001. The recent bombings in London were followed by special prayers in mosques on the following Friday, in synagogues on the Sabbath, and in churches on the Sunday. Yet disasters also bring the need for people of different religions to stand together before God. There are civic occasion too when such prayer is encouraged as a sign of solidarity. One cannot deny the delicate nature of such interreligious prayer, for prayer is an expression of faith, and where faith is not fully shared it is difficult to find words that will be acceptable to a114. Yet, despite our differences, we enjoy a common humanity. It is surely the duty of people of all religions to recognize this and to celebrate it. In this way the religions will be contributing to a harmonious and peaceful Europe.

+ Michael L. Fitzgerald
Gniezno
18 September 2005