AMONG the roots of British wariness of the European Union, according to the late Hugo Young, was suspicion that it was all a "Catholic conspiracy, orchestrated from the Vatican".
| Ahah! Papistry sneaking in the back door with a false nose and moustache, is it? |
That prejudice, the writer maintained, was held by many prominent Britons, including Margaret Thatcher. It is true that many of the moving spirits of post-war European integration—Konrad Adenauer, Jacques Delors, Alcide de Gasperi and Robert Schuman—were devout Catholics. Their faith gave them a strong sense of the cultural and religious ties between Europeans that transcend national boundaries. The European flag of 12 yellow stars on a blue background also owes something to Catholicism. Arsene Heitz, who designed it in 1955, recently told Lourdes magazine that his inspiration had been the reference in the Book of Revelation, the New Testament's final section, to "a woman clothed with the sun...and a crown of twelve stars on her head."
| Well, that certainly clinches it for me... |
But Catholicism and the European ideal are in danger of undergoing a messy divorce. The immediate crisis has been caused by opposition in the European Parliament to the nomination of Rocco Buttiglione, an Italian politician and devout Catholic, as European Commissioner for justice and home affairs. At his confirmation hearings, Mr Buttiglione said he regarded homosexuality as a sin. He drew a clear distinction between a sin and a crime, and said that he would have no problems enforcing Europe's Charter of Fundamental Rights. But his remarks, combined with other allegedly disparaging comments on single mothers and working women, sparked outrage from some parliamentarians; such a man should not hold the justice portfolio, they said, in an EU that calls itself a "union of values"...
| Because he maintains a few personal standards of right and wrong? Oh, I can well understand. If you have such standards, next thing you know people will be expecting you to adhere to them. Can't have that, now. Though it's probably not too much to worry about; his objection seems to be to immorality, not amorality. Or did they leave that part out? |
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