EUROPE'S CHRISTIAN ROOTS MUST BE IN EUROPEAN CONSTITUTION

VATICAN CITY, FEB 16, 2003 (VIS) - In remarks made before reciting the Angelus at noon today with the pilgrims assembled in St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul noted that on February 14 the Church celebrated the feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, brothers, apostles of the Slavs and co-patrons of Europe, born in Salonika the second half of the ninth century.

"Always faithful to the Roman Pontiff as well as to the Patriarch of Constantinople," the Pope said of these saintly brothers, "they were animated by a deep sense of the Church, one, holy, catholic and apostolic, while Jesus' invocation 'ut unum sint', was their missionary uniform."

The Pope remarked that "the legacy of Sts. Cyril and Methodius is also precious from a cultural standpoint. Their work, in fact, contributed to consolidating the common Christian roots of Europe, roots that with their essence permeated European history and institutions."

"Precisely for this," he affirmed, "it has been requested that the future constitutional treaty of the European Union give space to this common patrimony of the East and the West. A similar reference will take nothing away from the just lay nature of the political structures but, on the contrary, will help preserve the Continent from the double risk of ideological laicism, on the one hand, and sectarian integralism on the other."

"United on values and remembering their own past," he concluded, "European peoples can fully undertake their role in promoting justice and peace in the world."

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