In an important intervention in the debate on the Lisbon Treaty Cardinal Sean Brady Speaking at the Humbert Summer School in Co Mayo on Sunday (24 August), told the gathering, the EU's prevailing culture and social agenda seems to be driven by the secular tradition "rather than by the Christian memory and heritage of the vast majority of member states,".
Cardinal Brady continued by pointing out that there is "a fairly widespread culture in European affairs which relegates manifestations of one's own religious convictions to the private and subjective sphere."
The Cardinal warned that "Successive decisions which have undermined the family based on marriage, the right to life from the moment of conception to natural death, the sacredness of the Sabbath, the right of Christian institutions to maintain and promote their ethos, including schools - these and other decisions have made it more difficult for committed Christians to maintain their instinctive commitment to the European project."
The Cardinal stressed that in his view the difficulties would most likely continue, "Without respect for its Christian memory and soul, I believe it is possible to anticipate continuing difficulties for the European project," and also warned that "dangerous individualism that does not care about God or about what the future might have in store" would most likely continue to cause unease and difficulty in the EU's economic and social policies.
Cardinal Brady continued by pointing out that there is "a fairly widespread culture in European affairs which relegates manifestations of one's own religious convictions to the private and subjective sphere."
The Cardinal warned that "Successive decisions which have undermined the family based on marriage, the right to life from the moment of conception to natural death, the sacredness of the Sabbath, the right of Christian institutions to maintain and promote their ethos, including schools - these and other decisions have made it more difficult for committed Christians to maintain their instinctive commitment to the European project."
The Cardinal stressed that in his view the difficulties would most likely continue, "Without respect for its Christian memory and soul, I believe it is possible to anticipate continuing difficulties for the European project," and also warned that "dangerous individualism that does not care about God or about what the future might have in store" would most likely continue to cause unease and difficulty in the EU's economic and social policies.
