Strasbourg, 16th January 2023. I.A.O. participation to European Parliament’s event

On Monday, 16th January 2023, at the initiative of the MEP, member of the European Peoples’ Party (EPP) Lukas Mandl, an event was held at the premises of the European Parliament in Strasbourg with subject: “Identity: Looking at European values and its relation to the Christian tradition”. The Secretary General of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (I.A.O.) Dr. Maximos Charakopoulos and the I.A.O. Advisor Dr. Kostas Mygdalis were invited as key speakers at this event.

The I.A.O. Secretary General spoke scathingly on the fact that “the Final Report of the Conference on the Future of Europe does not contain even a single reference to Christianity or the Christian tradition, which is part of the way of life of millions of European citizens. Not even a reference to the “religious heritage”, which was included in the draft of the European Constitution. The I.A.O. since the announcement of the Conference on the Future of Europe in 2019, hastened to express its position. We sent letters to European officials, held meetings with several of them, as well as with representatives of churches, organized meetings on the importance of highlighting the Christian identity of Europe, prepared documents. Ultimately, no religious organizations or Churches were invited to the procedure of the Conference. Such an exclusion from the dialogue can be characterized undemocratic and discriminatory. The European Parliament’s decision to propose convening of a Conference of the European institutions for the revision of the EU Treaties gives us the opportunity to share our positions with those who influence the decision-making centers so that at least a clear reference is included in the resulting amended text in the Christian roots of Europe”.

The I.A.O. Advisor Dr. Kostas Mygdalis highlighted, inter-alia “the EU is constantly trying to present other religions and primarily Islam in a disadvantageous position, cultivating the myth that Muslims are ashamed of Western civilization and offended by European customs and traditions. Already in the 1980s, we observe a phobic attitude of the EU towards Muslim element, which gave birth to the idea of tolerance. This is an effort made by certain bureaucratic centers and lobbyists aiming to create an extremely secularized European legal order deprived of any religious reference … In the I.A.O. we have attempted to establish a platform of authentic dialogue with Islamic actors moving away from the negatively charged form of tolerance and moving on the basis of otherness. In this context, we have established regular contacts with inter-parliamentary organizations and Muslim-oriented civil society bodies, such as the Parliamentary Union of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Muslim World League”.

The head of the delegation of “Together4Europe”, Mr. Gerhard Proß, agreed with the position of the I.A.O. Secretary General Dr. Maximos Charakopoulos, and added “Europe is based on three pillars, namely Ancient Greece, Roman Law and European Christian values”. Additionally, that “in the modern European reality there is a danger of the third pillar disappearing. If we uproot the Christian roots of Europe, it ceases to be fruitful and its fruits seem to rot”.

Professor Emeritus of the University of Vienna and Austrian Theologian Mr. Paul Zulehner introduced the element of pluralism into the debate, which has to be alive with regard to the Europe of the Future. “Pluralism in the values derived from different religions and cultures does not imply their ultimate conflict”.

Few participants expressed the view that the dialogue between European Christian values and the Islamic tradition should highlight the common reference to God and focus on the common value background rather than the evident differences. And this common value background cannot but include the universal values of Peace, Freedom and Justice.

Participants to the event were: the MEP of the European People’s Party, Mr. Stelios Kimbouropoulos, who presented a substantial intervention and raised key issues regarding the thematic panel, the Secretary General of the Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the EU (COMECE), Rev. Barrios Prieto, the Lebanese Professor of the Higher Institute of Ecumenical Studies of the Catholic Institute of Paris, Mr. Georges El Hage, who reminded that Christianity is not a religion of confrontations, but a religion that advocates reconciliation and settlement, Fr. Christos Filiotis, representative of His Eminence Dimitrios, Metropolitan of France, responsible of the Orthodox Church in Strasbourg and Professor of the Department of Pastoral and Social Theology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), as well as members of Together4Europe Organization.