SHARED CONVICTIONS: THE SOURCE OF EUROPEAN UNION

VATICAN CITY, SEP 18, 2006 (VIS) - Benedict XVI today received the Letters of Credence of Martin Bolldorf, the new Austrian ambassador to the Holy See.

  In remarks to the diplomat, the Pope recalled how "Austria and the Holy See have a long history of fruitful union. This union is much more than a mere historical truth, it is founded on the fact that the vast majority of Austrian people belong to the Catholic Church. And this itself influences orientations, choices and common interests that significantly concern man, his freedom and his dignity, as well as his future in time and in society.

  "The State and the Church, from different points of view, both have at heart the good of man ... whose interests and dignity must never be made subject to parameters of feasibility, utility and productivity.

  "One of these common interests is Europe," the Holy Father added, "especially as regards developments in the process of European unification. Nowhere else in the world as in Europe do history and culture bear the mark of Christianity. The regional and national field - the homeland ... whence the majority of people draw the most important elements of their own cultural identity - is becoming ever more incorporated into the European field, the common homeland that is Europe."

  The continent of Europe benefits from the "great contribution arising from human mobility and the means of social communication," said the Holy Father. "The Church looks favorably on these developments. Where men and peoples consider themselves members of one family then the opportunities for peace, solidarity, and mutual exchange and enrichment increase." And Austria, "with its rich history as a State made up of many peoples ... is predestined to have a strong commitment for Europe."

  On the road towards integration, much depends "on the citizens' faith in this project. In discussions on the expansion of Europe and on its Constitution, the question constantly arises of the identity and spiritual roots upon which the community of European States and peoples rests. The most profound sources for a crisis-proof European 'whole' are to be found in shared convictions and in the values of history and of the Christian and humanist tradition of the continent."

  The Holy Father concluded his talk by recalling how, by virtue of the agreement with the Holy See, the Austrian State is committed to religious education, which is an obligatory subject in schools. "The State has the duty," he said, "of presenting children and young people - bearing in mind the growing number of pupils who belong to no specific confession - the roots of western thought and of the 'civilization of love' sustained by the Christian spirit."
CD/LETTERS OF CREDENCE/AUSTRIA:BOLLDORF            VIS 20060918 (460)