European unity and the Church

Abstract

Does the economic and political unification of Europe, as such, have any importance for the Church? Since the Church exists in the world, it clearly has; but I wish to argue here that this importance is not merely of the kind which any structural change in society has in relation to the Church's pastoral and practical action, but also of the deeper kind which only some social changes have - when they have a direct bearing on the realisation of God's plan for humanity. It is in this light that we can fully understand the unstinting support which the Popes from Pius XII to Paul VI have given to the ideal of European unity; and perhaps also why Catholic statesmen were in the forefront among the founding-fathers of the organisation which it is hoped will develop, in the not too long run, into an authentic European Parliament.