Exploring the attitude of the Roman Catholic Church towards European integration

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to provide the reader a comprehensive picture of the Roman Catholic Church's position to the question of European integration. The Church estimates that it comprises one billion followers around the globe of which a third reside in the European continent. Although many Catholics are distancing themselves from their religious practices, the Catholic Church is still regarded in high esteem because of its integrity, its centuries old institutional existence, and for the moral judgements it provides in response to world politics. Chapter one gives a short historical account of how the Church has exerted its influential position to trace the politics which accommodated the Christian doctrine. A constant objection was the delimitation of the authority of the pontiff. This blurring of competence between regnant and spiritual authority led to diplomatic clashes in the past. Particular episodes in Medieval European history emerge where the figure of the Pope contrasts with the image of the pontiff of nowadays who turns to more spiritual and moral recourses to proclaim justice. In the second chapter, the Catholic social teaching is analysed in its basic principles. A break off from the past is present in the encyclicas since 1891 when Leo XIII had to confront the emerging ideologies of the late 19th century. From the teachings of the Church, an emergent political force, namely Christian Democracy was forming, although not without criticism form the same ecclesiastical authorities and the laity. Christian Democracy contributed to the reconstruction of Europe after the Second World War. Its social capitalism drew from the social teachings of the Church. Chapter three exposes to the readers the preoccupation of the Church for the sweeping heavy secularisation process which is taking place in Europe, and several time, the Pope calls for a return to the values of Christianity which after all, shaped the culture in which European live. The chapter delves into the intellectual circles of the Church whereby an exploration of this theme will demonstrate what led to the dispersal of the traditional values. The Church was rather disappointed when the religious confessions were not included in the sphere of religious freedom, and this reflects an individualistic modern attitude which contrasts with the basic social doctrine of participation, the objective of the common good, and the inclusion of the most vulnerable in society. Chapter four examines the reactions of the Church to actual integration issues such as the expected enlargement of the European Union towards the Central and Eastern Europe, the economic and monetary union, and the participation and contribution of Europe in a globalised world.