Brussels, Belgium, Mar 7, 2007 / 11:34 am
The Van Thuan Observatory for the Social Doctrine of the Church has called a manifesto on the definition of Europe, produced by the organization Christians For Europe Initiative, “completely inadequate in its contents and in its general cultural premises.”
The manifesto was published to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome (March 26, 1957) and was signed by, among others, the former president of the World Monetary Fund, Michel Camdessus. According to the Observatory, the manifesto “states the obvious” and “demands little of European policies,” and it “says nothing at all” about “norms that legalize abortion” or laws “that extremely jeopardize the dignity of the family” or that “legalize euthanasia.”
The Van Thuan Observatory’s press release claims the manifesto lacks serious “reflection about the relativistic culture that is so widespread” in Europe, as well as about “the relationship between faith and reason, laicism itself and the public role of religions, especially Christianity.”