The Russian Orthodox Church has called upon the architects of the European Union draft constitution, presently in the works, to add a clause on protection of traditional religious values.
As the Moscow Patriarchate's External Relations Department reports, Metropolitan Cyril of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, who heads the department, has sent an appropriate letter to Valery Giscard d'Estaing, board chairman of the Future of Europe Convention, the organization tasked with drafting the EU constitution.
The Convention started the work in March 2002, and is expected to get it done by April 2003. The first sixteen articles of the constitution blueprints have already been released, but none of them contains a provision on protection of religious ethics and their role in the socio-cultural development of European nations, Metropolitan Cyril says. According to him, all major denominations of Europe insist that the document should provide a mechanism for protecting EU nations' traditional cultural and religious value systems.
The Russian Orthodox Church wants the new constitution to highlight Europe's Christian heritage, while also giving due attention to other faith traditions as well as secular thought, Metropolitan Cyril points out. Such a broad-minded approach would prevent the monopoly of one single interpretation over all others, he explains. Unfortunately, not all members of the EU leadership are mindful of Europe's cultural and religious diversity; many seek to impose a certain set of values on all member states, regardless of the national traditions of each, he says. In conclusion, the Metropolitan remarks that to many people, such notions as faith, shrines, spiritual life, national and cultural self-identification, and patriotism are equally, or even less, important than creature comforts, material wealth, physical wellness, and man's worldly existence at large.