Jukka Paarma, Archbishop of Turku and Finland
1-3
September 2002 Palermo, Faiths and Cultures within Conflict and Dialogue
Thank you very much
for inviting us Nordic people to this Mediterranean Island of Sicily and the
city of Palermo. We live up in the north, on the other side of our continent.
Nevertheless, we have enjoyed a beautiful summer, the hottest for decades in
Finland. We have been swimming in lakes and sea and have been blessed by a
Mediterranean climate and soft winds for several weeks. Though - please
don’t worry - we won’t start growing
grapes or olive trees just after one hot summer. A long snowy winter is yet to
come.
The weather is
always such an easy start for any small talk. In a deeper sense, the climate
has been used as one explanation for our differences in dialogue and
communication. The Nordic people are said to be slow in speech but hopefully
not in mind. The cultural differences have also shaped our religious habits:
the way we serve God and how we pray. It may have formed the ways we express
our faith, but not in whom we believe.
1.
Christians and their difficult dialogue in the past
Christians have
been, more or less successfully, in a dialogue with one another throughout the
centuries. It is not something new. Theologians have always questioned the
meaning of God for the world in the history of the Christian church: How should
His words be interpreted today? How can we
believe in God? What is God and what is His heritage to mankind?
There is a problem
in this dialogue: What often started just by asking questions with theologians
making remarks, has created dividing barriers between people. Deep divisions
among theologians created more differences, more churches and religious
communities. Sometimes problems were overemphasized. Negative stereotypes of
others were created.
In some parts of
Europe churches were used by ruling powers to serve political purposes. Our
Evangelical-Lutheran tradition is a good example of how the remarks of one
particular monk called Martin Luther threw the Catholic church of his time into
turmoil. It led to the Reformation but also into divisions.
After the Second
World War, a new post-modern and pluralistic society has created new ways of
thinking. Churches are probably not the power players in the political sphere
any more. The collapse of the iron curtain has encouraged us to build new
bridges between east and west. In a secularised world churches have to undergo
a process of self-evaluation. What is our role? Could this self-assessment make
churches more humble and bring them to an open dialogue with one another?
2.
The churches as a driving force in search for Soul for Europe
In today’s world,
the European Union has played an interesting role in inviting and encouraging
churches and religious communities to speak and reinforce a Soul for Europe. It
is an initiative with the aim of giving a spiritual and ethical dimension to the
European Union. The churches and religious communities are needed to offer the
union’s citizens something more than economics and legal systems.
Recently, the
European Union has been blamed for lacking transparency and openness. It is
accused of suffering from democratic deficit.
Apparently, there
is a need for closer cooperation in some policy areas. The pollution and floods
do not respect borders. There seems to be a new rise of ultra-nationalistic
tendencies within some parts of Europe, a matter of a great concern of
everybody.
Last February, the
European Union started an ambitious project by launching a Convention on the
Future of Europe. The Convention of 105 people from fifteen Member States,
parliaments and the European Parliament
and from all the candidate countries should make at least a statement or
preferably a new draft Treaty for the enlarged European Union. We will see the
outcome next year.
Many churches and
organisations have expressed their concerns of the future perspectives in Europe.
The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland
says in its contribution to this process that the values which form the
basis of a Christian mission are, to a great extent, the same as those for the
Treaties of the European Union. The main objective of the European Union should
continue to deepen the respect for justice, peace, freedom, tolerance,
solidarity, sustainable development and equality. It should aim to reduce the
threats and insecurities experienced by its citizens and advocate co-operation
between nations. The voices of small countries and minorities should be heard
and their rights protected.
The enlargement of
the European Union should not mean a top down project on how people could fit
into the new Europe. We need a lot more
respect for one another´s values and cultural differences. The diversity of
languages, cultures and religions is an essential foundation of Europe.
3.
Spirituality and Soul
When we look at the
need for soul for Europe, we see that the soul is not something that is lost or
disappeared – it has been there all the time.
The search for
spirituality has become a phenomenon of the post-modern society. Yet, for many
reasons, our churches seem not to be the places for people to start their
research. The churches may be regarded as outdated and old-fashioned with their
hierarchical structures. Modern men and women want instant relief or a
systematic method of knowing how to feel better.
In this context all
the joint efforts to encourage discussions on values and spirituality in Europe
are appreciated. The task of the churches is to serve souls and not to become
an indefinable soul for Europe. The Christian Church cannot be used for the
sole purpose of creating good European Union structures with a Soul. The church
is there to give a voice to those who don’t have one. It aims to defend the
poor, the disadvantaged and the marginalized.
Churches are
concerned with values and they want to remind people that Europe is wider than
the European Union. Regarding the future of Europe it should be seen in the
context of a wider world. As a geographical region it reaches from the Atlantic
Ocean to the Ural Mountains and from the Arctic Ocean to the Mediterranean.
The mission of the
Christian Church is to unite people and nations, to preach the Gospel and to
meet the diaconal –that is the spiritual, social and material – needs of people
and to promote justice for all. This vision and task can help to develop
spirituality for the whole of Europe and for the whole world.