“Go easy on the Greeks,” says the Archbishop of Vienna, cardinal Schönborn.In a document signed by the Archbishop and the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Austria, Arsenios, the two sharply criticise the “superficiality and thoughtlessness” with which people in Europe are talking about the Greeks is a disgrace.
This approach is a “disgrace” and “dangerously wrong”.
Europe’s mistake, according to Austrian leaders of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches in Austria, is its approach: “It is as if those who speak lightly about Greece’s potential exit from the European Union do not understand that we are all in the same boat as our Greek brothers and sisters.”
This is why what is needed is a “bridge of solidarity” with Greece.
The cardinal and the metropolitan outwardly criticised the “negative prejudices” about the Greeks that are being circulated in connection with the Greek debt crisis. “We are all Greeks,” Schönborn and Arsenios agreed and the EU must be grateful to Greece for the foundations of the “European spirit.”
Along the same lines as the Austrian ecumenical document in favour of Greece, was a meeting of delegations of the European Episcopal Conferences and the Patriarchates and Orthodox Churches for the Third European Catholic-Orthodox Forum, entitled “The Economic Crisis and poverty: the challenges faced by the Europe of today” and organised by the Patriarchate of Lisbon, Cardinal José da Cruz Policarpo.
“We are Christians at a time when the Spirit of the Gospel should be able to express itself through a Christian vision of the human person in the awareness of existing problems and in search of solutions which Europe is dealing with on an economic, social and above all cultural level,” the cardinal explained.
What Churches can do is help give a Christian interpretation of the difficulties, problems and ideological solutions. Concrete responses are needed. I think the message should be one of trust: we cannot allow ourselves to believe that we are experiencing a moment of collective disgrace and despite the gravity of the current situation we must have faith,” the Patriarch of Lisbon said.
“But in order to have faith, political ideologies have to take a step back. In my view, the main problem is cultural and if the problem is cultural I believe it should make those who are responsible for orienting the country’s culture, reflect. The concepts of community and common good do not tally with the content of political speeches, political practice and the search for solutions.”
So we “need to face reality. It is normal for there to be differences in democracy but everyone needs to do their bit to find solutions for the common good of the country.”
The fact that the Orthodox and Catholic Churches met in Lisbon is a positive sign.
“I think that this Christian interpretation of reality can be offered together,” José da Cruz Policarpo told the Vatican Information Service (SIR). In these Forums we do not deal with doctrinal questions concerning relations between Churches, but as European Churches we have a message to communicate. Together we can come up with a Christian solution for European society.”
According to the cardinal, this Christian interpretation is about “the truth and dignity of the human person, the generosity in the search for solutions, the overcoming of individual and also collective selfishness. There is a Christian culture to be expressed in Europe today; this culture has penetrated the continent ever since its origins. There is, therefore, a vision of mankind and of society that has been pushed to the sidelines by the various ideologies that have emerged over the years. It is time for Christians to take stock of this and put this vision into practice.”