The Church\u27s Contribution to European Communion and Identity

U svom izlaganju autor govori o značenju Crkve u izgradnji europskog zajedništva i identiteta. Postavlja se pitanje: Što je to Europa, kakva je ona i kakvom bi trebala postati? Kakvo je europsko zajedništvo, što je to europski identitet? Koje su temeljne vrijednosti za čovječanstvo po kojima je kršćanska vjera dala pečat europskom identitetu? Kakvu ulogu ima Crkva u odnosu na Europu i njezine najnovije procese? Koji je poseban doprinos Crkva pozvana dati u izgradnji zajedničkoga europskog doma? Gdje je Hrvatska u svemu tome? Tim pitanjima autor pristupa u kontekstu crkvenih izazova našega vremena povezujući ih s perspektivom povijesnog trenutka u kojem se nalazi Hrvatska. Izlaganje je plod promišljanja koje je sazrelo tijekom desetogodišnjeg autorovog služenja Crkvi u Europi (2001. - 2011.) obnašanjem služba: potpredsjednika Vijeća europskih biskupskih konferencija (CCEE) i člana promatrača Komisije episkopata Europske unije (COMECE), kao i pastira Crkve zagrebačke u Hrvatskoj, koja se, nakon nasilne izolacije u vrijeme komunističkog totalitarizma i nakon započete duhovne i materijalne obnove, nalazi u procesima izgradnje novoga europskog zajedništva.In this presentation the author speaks about the significance of the Church for the building of European communion and identity. The author poses a number of questions: What is Europe, what is it like and what should it become? What is European communion and what is European identity? What are the fundamental values for humanity that the Christian faith impressed, as it were, on the European identity? What role does the Church have in relation to Europe and its latest processes? What special contribution is the Church called upon to make in building the common European home? And where is Croatia in all this? The author approaches these questions in the context of the challenges facing the Church in the contemporary times by taking the perspective of and relating these challenges to the historical moment Croatia is currently facing. The presentation is the product of reflection that matured during the author\u27s decade of ministry to the Church in Europe (2001 - 2011). During that time, he held the offices of the Vice President of the Association of the Catholic Bishops\u27 Conferences of Europe (CCEE), the observer member of the Commission of the Bishops\u27 Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), and the head of the Zagreb Church in Croatia which went through a violent isolation during the communist totalitarianism, started, more recently, a process of spiritual and material renewal, and is faced now with the processes of building a new European communion