Europeans Disagree on References to Christianity in Constitution

Paris (CNSNews.com) - As the deadline nears for adopting a constitution for the newly-enlarged European Union, some new members are demanding that the constitution make a clear mention of Europe's Christian heritage.

Last week, the foreign ministers of seven countries wrote a letter to the current Irish presidenct of the EU, urging "a reference to the Christian roots of Europe" in the preamble of the constitution.

The draft of the constitution, set to be adopted in mid-June, was authored last year by a committee led by former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing. For now, it only talks about the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe" and goes on to list the continent's common values, which include a respect for human rights.

In their letter, new members Poland, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic - which joined the EU on May 1 -- along with two older members, Italy and Portugal, said "this issue remains a priority" for their governments and "for millions of European citizens."

"We want to talk about Christian tradition or Christian heritage because that is something that actually exists, something you can see around you," says Malgorzata Alterman, the first counselor to the Polish representation at the European Union.

"You can look around at the architecture and see churches all over Europe. Using the word 'values' makes it sound like something we want to impose."

France, a secular nation that recently banned overt religious symbols in schools, leads those who oppose any concrete reference to religion.

French Foreign Affairs Minister Michel Barnier, who contributed to the original wording of the text, defended the French position on Wednesday in Parliament.

"Each person is represented in this text, whatever his belief, his conviction or his philosophy," he said.

Barnier said France, which is supported by two other EU giants, the United Kingdom and Germany, was opposed to any change in the wording, but has not ruled out a compromise.

Others argue more bluntly that to mention only Christianity in the preamble is to ignore millions of Jews and Muslims who make up a large part of Europe.

"We're not denying the role of other religions," says Alterman. "Talking about Christian traditions does not exclude other religions."

Alterman points to the text of her own country's constitution as an example of a non-exclusive mention of Christianity.

Poland's constitution reads: "Beholden to our ancestors for their labors, their struggle for independence achieved at great sacrifice, for our culture rooted in the Christian heritage of the Nation and in universal human values."

"Nobody is denying there are many religions and nobody is undermining the importance of other religions," says Alterman. "But when you look at Europe and its architecture, you can see the role that Christian tradition played in making the history and life of European citizens."

Spain, which originally argued for a mention of God in the preamble, is now siding with the secular group after a Socialist government was elected in March.

The election came just days after the Madrid train bombings, which many Spaniards felt had been provoked by Spain's participation in the mission to rebuild post-war Iraq.

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