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Religious leaders are calling for Europe to return to its Christian roots ahead of this year’s European Union elections. A coalition of Christian organisations released a joint letter on Wednesday warning that “the importance of the Christian tradition as the ‘milieu’ in which today’s European values were established is being overlooked,” and urging politicians and voters alike to “[p]romote Christian values in the political programmes and pre-election campaigns” ahead of E.U. elections in early June.

The letter was signed by the Catholic Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), the inter-denominational Conference of European Churches (CEC), the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO), and Together for Europe, a network “of Christian Communities and Movements of different Churches, spread across the Continent,” devoted to encouraging European unity under the banner of Christian values.

“We note with regret that values, which were formerly taken for granted, such as peace, stability and prosperity, and the rule of law rather than rule by power, have now been torn apart,” the letter states. “Christian values, shared by a large part of European citizens, can provide a guarantee of a safe approach to the changes and challenges we face. It is useful — if not essential — for European factions to take into account Christian values in European politic, especially on critical issues…”

The letter also notes that during the 2021-2022 Conference on the Future of Europe, “We distinctly noticed that a large proportion of citizens, who confidently look at the European future through the prism of Christian values, now feel marginalised, as they do not have the opportunity to express their positions and opinions in an autonomous and distinct way.” The letter adds, “We also notice the exclusion of any appropriate reference to Christian values in relevant E.U. texts.”

The Impetus for a Return to Europe’s Christian Roots

Christian leaders in EU member states have faced increasing progressivism over the past few years, including broad attempts at promoting abortion and the LGBT agenda. Earlier this month, for example, France, a major figure in the EU, enshrined a “right” to abortion in its constitution.

When conservative Catholic Giorgia Meloni was elected Prime Minister of Italy in 2022, France’s Prime Minister warned that the EU would have to be “careful” in ensuring that Italy maintained “respect for the right to abortion…” After the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) clamoured to declare abortion a fundamental right across the continent. A number of EU countries have also joined an EU lawsuit against Hungary over the nation’s law banning promoting LGBT ideology to minors, while other nations have faced backlash for not permitting same-sex marriage. Additionally, EU member states have been grappling with years of almost-unmitigated illegal immigration, largely from the Middle East and Africa.

In comments to The Washington Stand, Michael Leahy, chairman of the Irish Freedom Party and a current candidate for the European Parliament, explained, “The clear social dislocation that Europe is experiencing at present can be traced specifically to its abandonment of Christianity, and it appears to me that unless Europeans are prepared to rediscover the Christian roots of the continent then Europe has no future as a separate, coherent culture.” He continued:

“Central ethical concepts which have always characterised Europe, such as open and fair debate, free speech, and the right to religious worship are increasingly under attack by governments, largely at the behest of vocal Islamic minorities, but also aided and abetted by atheistic elites who do not seem to realise that a society without a religious ethic will not survive. Nature hates a vacuum, and if they finally succeed in eradicating Christianity, as has long been their intent, the Christianity they hate so much will only be replaced by Islam. In that circumstance, the left-wing elites who have brought this situation about will be the first people to be thrown off the nearest tall building!”

Leahy added, “European citizens are finally coming to the realisation that the struggles that all of our societies seem to be engaged in, the so-called culture wars, consist in the main, of a spiritual war. Without robust spiritual guidance Europe is doomed to face defeat in that war. The same can be said of the United States.”

Europe’s Christian Roots ‘The Foundation of Our Civilisation’

Hermann Kelly, founder of the Irish Freedom Party and another candidate for the European Parliament, told The Washington Stand, “As I mature, I notice that the virtue of hope in God is crucially important, for without hope a man, a family, and a society will endeavour, will risk, or strive for little or nothing. Above all, the Christian faith is necessary because God tells us it is necessary for salvation.” He concluded, “A Christian society based on virtue is a more free society where believers have an internal compulsion to virtue without the need for a physical threat of external state authority to prevent vice. Simply, a more virtuous society is a more free society.”

In their joint letter, the European Christian coalition recommended that voters and MEPs “[r]ecognise Christian values as a main foundation of the European project,” “[f]ight against the instrumentalisation of Christian values for political interests,” and “[p]romote Christian values in the political programmes and pre-election campaigns.”

Romanian MEP Cristian Terhes told The Washington Stand that “faith in a transcendent God negates the turn towards an all-powerful and authoritarian state.” He expounded, “It is imperative to maintain a sense of national solidarity that the Christian element is maintained. … Faith in Jesus Christ also generates a sense of community across all nations, which allows us to believe in a Christian community as the foundation of our civilisation.”

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Republished with thanks to The Washington Stand. Image courtesy of Unsplash.