The Church bodies warned that the importance of the Christian tradition in the development of modern European values is “being overlooked” and that those values that Europe took for granted “have now been torn apart”.
The address to European institutions and parties, as well as to MEP candidates, was issued in light of the “successive” crises and wars that have “called into question democratic principles and institutions”.
European citizens have become aware of the inability of Europe’s decision-making centres to respond in an effective manner to the continent’s new reality, the statement reads.
As intellectual, religious and political actors, the Church bodies said that they feel compelled to contribute to helping Europe re-focus so that it might achieve a “sustainable” future.
They noted “the exclusion of any appropriate reference to Christian values in relevant EU texts,” and said that values that were formerly taken for granted “such as peace, stability and prosperity, and the rule of law rather than rule by power, have now been torn apart”.
A return to Christian values can help Europe face the difficult future it’s walking into, they advised.
“Christian values, shared by a large part of European citizens, can provide a guarantee of a safe approach to the changes and challenges we face. It is useful – if not essential – for European factions to take into account Christian values in European politic,” the Church organisations said.
The statement concludes with three recommendations for European Institutions, parties and MEP candidates to consider, including better dialogue with Churches and religious organisations, fighting against the “instrumentalisation of Christian values” and the promotion of Christian values in political programmes and pre-election campaigns.
Issuing the document were the Commission of Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), the Conference of European Churches, the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy and Together for Europe.