As the new European Union Constitution was signed on 29 October, the 25 European countries are being bound together under a new covenant. While many people in the world are anticipating a bright economical future of Europe, the Vatican is worried about the secularisation that is sweeping across the continent. One of the very obvious signs are that the new European Union Constitution has made no reference to its very strong Christian roots.

Compared to problems such as poverty, AIDS and terrorism, secularisation has come to the Vatican as a more immediate concern, especially after the devoted Catholic EU Commission nominee Rocco Buttiglione was rejected by the European Parliament because of his Catholic views on homosexuality recently.

According to Pope John Paul, “Taking into account the Christian roots of the European continent remains fundamental for the future development of the union.”

The Pope is seriously concerned about the declining ethics in the society as the European politicians have accelerated the movement of secularisation through their legislations and policies that are against Christian teachings.

There is a serious chaos in aspects such as marriage, homosexuality, abortion, human cloning etc... Abortion and divorce are readily available in many European nations. Gay marriage is legal in Belgium and the Netherlands. In traditionally Roman Catholic Spain, a new socialist government is aggressively promoting legislation that will permit gay marriage, facilitate abortion and speed up divorce. In historically Catholic France, Christian symbols such as crucifixes have been outlawed, and Britain is making huge strides in the field of embryonic stem cell research.

Marco Politi, the Vatican correspondent for Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper, “There’s a real feeling that the Church is under an attack, an aggression, and that it must defend itself against this wave of de-Christianisation.”

Archbishop John Foley, head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications said, “It’s not just a question of Christianity or even Catholicism...There’s this militant secularism, a denial of spirituality, of the destiny of the human person, and it’s a great concern.”