Vision of European project ‘more urgently imperative’ than ever says Archbishop

Archbishop Noel Treanor, Apostolic Nuncio to the EU, has said that the fundamental vision and values upon which the European project is based are “more urgently imperative and relevant than ever”.

Recalling how the European project was launched with the objective of “no more war on European soil”, Archbishop Treanor described it as “a significant accomplishment”.

Reiterating the “imperative to work for peace”, Archbishop Treanor said Pope Francis had repeatedly appealed for peace, justice and the “true” values of the European project, notably at World Youth Day in Lisbon last year.

“Sadly, we have seen the outbreak of war in the Balkans. We have seen it again now in the form of an aggression on the territorial sovereignty of a state,” he said in a reference to the war in Ukraine.

“We are aware, as Pope Francis has said, that there are many theatres of conflict and war around the world, all of it brings us almost to a threshold of a third world war.”

Archbishop Treanor was speaking to The Tablet at St Columban’s Abbey in the French market town of Luxeuil les Bains where a plaque was unveiled to commemorate French statesman, Robert Schuman, known as “the father of Europe”.

It was in this French town in July 1950 that Schuman attended celebrations along with other international statesmen, religious leaders and scholars to mark the 1,400th anniversary of the birth of St Columbanus.

The Irish missionary founded a monastery in Luxeuil after his arrival in the region in 591. In the early seventh century, he wrote to two popes and made reference to the idea of a distinct European identity. He is considered today to be the first person to espouse a common unity between the peoples of Europe. 

According to Archbishop Treanor, the triggers for St Columban’s promotion of peace and a common bond among the peoples of Europe, as well as evangelisation, were the horrendous experiences following the fall of the Roman Empire. Similarly, Robert Schuman’s desire to see unity and peaceful coexistence among Europeans followed the horrors of the two world wars in the 20th century and the Franco-Prussian war of the late 19th century.

At the conference in St Columban’s Abbey in Luxeuil in 1950, Schuman held a number of meetings with the assembled statesmen and Church leaders including the Nuncio to France, Msgr Angelo Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII. He spoke to them about his embryonic vision for Europe where reconstruction and collaboration would counter tendencies towards war. 

The gathering at St Columban’s in Luxeuil this week has also marked the end of a chapter for St Columban’s Abbey as a school and one-time seminary. The school is closing at this location in July and will merge with another local school.

In addition to the Apostolic Nuncio to the EU, the event was attended by local French civic and religious leaders, including Archbishop Philippe Ballot of Metz, a former student of St Columban’s, Archbishop Jean-Luc Bouilleret of Besançon, as well as past pupils, members of the Friends of St Columbanus Association and representatives of the Columban missionaries.

Sr Ann Gray of the Columban Sisters, who are marking the centenary of their foundation this year, told The Tablet that her congregation’s co-founder, Mother Mary Patrick, attended the 1950 celebrations for St Columban in Luxeuil with Schuman.

“The five of us Columban Sisters who are here in Luxeuil today feel we are walking in her footsteps. It is also particularly meaningful for us to be able to walk in the footsteps and visit the places where St Columban actually lived, worked and prayed.

Sr Ann said she felt both Robert Schuman and St Columban had a message of peace for our contemporary world. “What is going on in the world today is completely against the spirit of both Columban and Robert Schuman, who worked so hard for peace.”

“St Columban is famous for what he did to try and bring the different peoples of Europe together and he was one of the first people to speak about Europe as a place together. He saw no difference between the peoples and that would be very much part of our missionary Columban charism. We enter into different cultures, we are accepted by so many different people,” the Scottish nun said.

The eruption of war on Europe’s borders has provoked renewed reflection on Europe’s defence and security policies leading to investment in the armament industries according to Archbishop Treanor, despite the poverty in so many parts of Sub Saharan Africa where “vast tranches of the population is dying not to mention the poverty in our own cities”.

Highlighting the “weakening of international institutions” established after World War II, Archbishop Treanor said it was “incumbent on all of us together, whether those involved in politics, or those of us who are Christian and are impelled by a vision of society – the heart of which is to be found in a desire for justice and the promotion of justice as a pre-condition of peace and fraternity – to build the mentality and disposition and the values which are the antidotes to war.”

He added, “We can’t forget the importance of praying for peace among peoples.”

Stay updated — add us as a preferred news source on Google: