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Europe's Spiritual Roots EUROPE´S SPIRITUAL ROOTS – a conversation on ideas Government Offices of Sweden Published by The Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden Utrikesdepartementet, 103 39 Stockholm Editors: Ulla Gudmundson Ursula Åhlén Transcription: Umberto Ghidoni Susanne Vinell Layout: Monica Langwe Production: Svensk Information Photo: Charlotta Smeds during a public conversation on 2 November 2009 in Biblioteca Angelica, Rome. Printing: Davidsons Tryckeri, Växjö, 2010 Printed in 550 copies of which 25 are numbered with handmade paper made by Monica Langwe and Karl-Erik Hedberg. Article no: UD 10.024 ISBN: 978-91-7496-418-9 Europe’s Spiritual Roots – a conversation on ideas Contents Foreword 8 To the reader 9 In Biblioteca Angelica 11 The Mother Tongue Of Europe Is Christianity 14 Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi The Written Word Which Binds Europe Together 19 Prof. Inge Jonsson Conversation 26 Dr Jonna Bornemark Bishop Antje Jackelén Prof. Werner Jeanrond Prof. Rabbi Daniel Sperber Muslim Strands In The European Web of Ideas 66 Prof. Mohammad Fazlhashemi Appendix 73 Discourse by Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi (Italian original) Contributors 7 Foreword Diplomatic relations between Sweden and the Holy See go back to the 15th century. After the Reformation, relations were severed for 455 years. They were resumed in 1982, during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II. Today, the Holy See and Sweden share a number of ambitions in the international arena, ambitions which are also those of the European Union. Human rights, interreligious dialogue, disarmament, the battle against world poverty and the peaceful resolution of conflicts are areas where Sweden, the EU and the Holy See work together. These values and ambitions have deep roots in the European humus of ideas. The Lisbon Treaty has drawn inspiration from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe. I am delighted that a conversation on “Europe’s Spiritual Roots” could be arranged in Rome during Sweden’s Presidency of the European Union in the autumn of 2009. Carl Bildt Minister for Foreign Affairs 8 To the reader This book is an edited transcript of a remarkable conversation between six outstanding scholars, each with her or his perspective on the European spiri- tual heritage, which took place on 2 November 2009 in Biblioteca Angelica, Rome. The contribution of the seventh speaker, who was unable to attend, is added as an essay. I wish to thank the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, whose generous grant made the event possible. Conversation is one of the oldest forms of inquiry into the realm of religi- ous and philosophic ideas. The philosophy of Socrates reaches us through Plato’s dialogues. The teachings of Jesus to his disciples and to Jewish women and men in his native Palestine do so largely through the many ques- tions and answers in the Gospels. The Middle Ages were not only the time of the Crusades, but also of exchange between Christian, Muslim and Jewish scholars in Europe. A modern example is Edith Stein’s fictitious conversation between the 20th century philosopher Edmund Husserl and the 13th century theologian St. Thomas Aquinas. Even a non-believer who opens the atheist Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy cannot help being over- whelmed by the tremendous mental energy which Europeans have invested in thinking and talking to each other about God. Conversation does not need to end in consensus, in discovery of or in confirmation of a final Truth. It can be a way of exploring, of opening our minds to new horizons, to unexpected ways of looking at what is familiar. It may not provide us with easy answers, but rather with questions which spark further thoughts, thoughts that in turn can be shared with our fellow humans and assist us in living together, in Europe and in the world. Some questions which this particular conversation invites us to ponder are: What is the relationship between Christianity, Judaism, Islam and a Euro- pean identity? Who are “Others” in the European context, historically and today? On whose terms do we meet? Whose are the unheard voices? Is the European heritage – art, literature, ideas – lost to tomorrow’s gene- ration? Does it matter? Can education combat forgetfulness? 9 Do we need to overcome the traditional split between faith and reason, rationality and mysticism, objectivity and subjectivity in looking at the world? How do male and female mystic traditions differ? Are absolute moral values viable in pluralistic societies? Why do we find it difficult to speak of “evil” as a reality? Do we need to rework binaries such as secular versus religious, classical faith versus liberal faith, state versus religious communities, unity versus diversity? Does “love as commandment” meet the challenge of living in a multireli- gious Europe? Ulla Gudmundson Ambassador of Sweden to the Holy See 10 In Biblioteca Angelica Dr Marina Panetta, Beni Culturali: Your Eminence, Excellencies, Professors, dear guests and friends, I feel honoured to welcome you all here today. As we know, the Christian roots of Europe have been the subject of intense debate in recent years. How can a belief in Europe’s Christian roots affirm itself today, by whom, and for the benefit of whom? And for which Europe, for which citizens of Europe? These are enormous challenges. I am sure that today we will hear a wide range of views expressed by our speakers who represent different religious cultures and confessions. This library is the library of the Augustine order. St Augustine wrote his Civitate Dei in times that much resemble ours. He asked himself many questions about the future of the world, living, as we do, in the final days of an empire, an empire composed of many peoples, unified by law, by langu- age, by civility. He could see its end approaching, but was steadfast in his belief in the final victory of theCivitas Dei. This we should also believe in. Of course, I do not approach these issues as a theologian, but the questions concerning the ultimate things are questions which concern us all, inclu- 11 ding those of us who are not religious believers. A great Italian philosopher, Benedetto Croce, once wrote a pamphlet called Why we cannot avoid calling ourselves Christians. His answer was: because even if we do not believe, we are children of centuries of Christianity. But conversely, today we cannot avoid calling ourselves secular; even those of us who live within the reality of the Church have a secular vision – not an areligious vision, nor an antire- ligious one, but a critical vision. And it is here, in this critical dimension, that we should meet each other. And, to conclude, I wish to leave you with a little hint: our ancestors felt that our thoughts in this world, conveyed through books, would lead us to Heaven’s door. Could this idea help us today? I think so. Thank you very much. Ulla Gudmundson: It is indeed a pleasure to welcome you to this event, the theme of which is Europe’s Spiritual Roots. We have called it “a conversation on ideas”. And a more perfect venue for this occasion than the Biblioteca Angelica could not be imagined. In this wonderful room, we are surrounded by a great part of Europe’s spiritual, cultural and intellectual patrimony. A friend remarked: “Ah, Biblioteca Angelica, what a splendid name! The library of the angels!”. Of course, one asks oneself whether there is, somewhere, a Biblioteca Diabolica, a library of the devils? Probably, the only person to know is the American writer Dan Brown. This meeting takes place during the Swedish Presidency of the European Union. And the challenges confronting Europeans today are daunting. We must work, with others, to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts. We must combat global poverty, unemployment and the financial crisis in Europe and the world. We must, increasingly, adapt policies and lifestyles in order to limit and to manage climate change. These are ambitions which the European Union shares with the Holy See, as is evident in the documents from the Second Vatican Council and, most recently, in the Papal Encyclica Caritas in Veritate. 12 European values have spiritual and intellectual roots. The European identity has been formed by women and men, loving, worshipping, thinking, spea- king, writing, arguing, in constant intercourse, and sometimes in struggle, with other peoples, regions, cultures, religions and traditions. One way to describe Europe is as an ongoing “conversation on ideas”. This conversation has gone on for centuries. It continues today, here, in Rome, in Biblioteca Angelica. We are delighted to have assembled a group of distinguished participants. We will begin by our two keynote speakers, H.E. Archbishop Gian- franco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council of Culture, and Professor Inge Jonsson, former President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Let- ters, History and Antiquities and former Rector of Stockholm University. Let me invite you to begin, Monsignor Ravasi. The floor is yours. 13 The Mother Tongue of Europe is Christianity Gianfranco Ravasi: Thank you. The theme that has been assigned to us two initial speakers is extremely vast. It embraces a horizon that contains thousands of roads and journeys. So I will pick just one, a didactic route, which I will divide in two. The first will be a look at the map of Europe, obviously not from a geographi- cal or topographical perspective, but with a cultural and spiritual eye, keeping in mind that the name Europe was definitely given to our continent by a Pope who was also the founder of the Vatican Library – represented here today by His Eminence Cardinal Farina. I speak of Nicholas V, who after the tragic fall of Constantinople in 1453 – a true drama for the West – began to use this term, whose origin, as we all know, is in Greek mythology.
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