Pope Presses on Recovering Christian Heritage in Europe

Recently, many Christian figures has reported and commented about the sign of the declining Christianity in Europe. The alarming issue was mostly attributed to the secularism in Christian lives as analyzed by Christian columnists.

Even in both political and social ground, it has shown that the leaders nowadays tend to go further away from their Christian roots in their administration compared to the past. At the latest summit of European leaders in Greece, a draft constitution has been presented referred to the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance" of Europe, but not to its Christian tradition.

Responding to this situation, Pope John Paul II has published a lengthy document called "Exhortation to the Church in Europe" which he presented to the public last Sunday.

The Pope said European Union policy-makers should rediscover their Christian roots and draw the first constitution with recognition of European Christian heritage.

"It is vital that this rich heritage is not lost," he adds.

The Pope urges churches and other religious bodies should have a recognized social bodies rather than just private entities.

Besides, he expressed his appreciation for the strong Christian spiritual values that has planted into the great universities of Europe throughout centuries. He emphasized that the young generations should take effort to protect and inherit it. From the youths, there is hope in European Christianity.

However, the Pope's notion has been resisted by secular politicians. Opposite opinions are also received from the substantial non- Christian minorities in Europe, especially for Muslim country Turkey and other countries like Bosnia and Albania. Some suggest that no particular religion should be endorsed in the constitution of European Union.