The debt crisis in Greece provides an opportunity to "define a new concept of Europe" and develop ways of finding unity on issues other than money, the Vatican’s semi-official newspaper said on Monday.
"The Greek failure may be an opportunity to define a new concept of Europe” with less emphasis on its ruling "elites", L'Osservatore Romano said in its first issue after Sunday’s national referendum in which 61 per cent of Greek voters rejected a bail-out plan from the country's creditors, which include the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Union (EU), and the European Central Bank (ECB).
Sunday’s no vote was claimed as a victory by Prime Minister Alex Tsipras but has not necessarily strengthened his hand in his negotiations with Brussels, which resumed today.
The Church has been cautious about commenting on the crisis. Comece, the pan-European bishops’ conference, declined to comment for The Tablet on how far the EU should go to keep Greece in the union.
Last Thursday the Holy See spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi issued a short statement urging negotiators to keep the dignity of the human person “at the centre of any political and technical debate, as well as in the taking of responsible decisions.”
Pope Francis was especially concerned “for the many families gravely beset by such a complex and keenly felt human and social crisis,” he added.
The leaders of France and Germany meeting on Tuesday at today’s emergency summit urged Greece to come up with “serious and credible proposals” for it to remain in the Eurozone.
The Italian news agency Ansa quoted L'Osservatore Romano as saying the European project "has to change, even at the cost of painful choices [such] as Greece's exit from the single currency".
"In a continent full of history and traditions, the real challenge is precisely to give up the legacy that the past carries with it.”
Sunday's referendum highlighted not just economic difficulties but also a wider social context characterised by “a widespread aversion to (European) leadership and financial institutions," the newspaper said, adding that a wedge between the public and political leaders, both in Athens and internationally, had widened since the global financial crisis that began in 2008.
That wedge has been "fuelling phenomena such as nationalism, the extremes of confrontation, and the emergence of new (political) players," such as Greece's leading Syriza party headed by Mr Tsipras.
The paper said the crisis highlighted an urgent need for a new process of integration that went beyond banking union or financial unification techniques and focused instead on issues as immigration, health, communication, research, education and welfare.
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