“Veluti si Deus daretur”. Contribution to the Debate on European Oblivion of Christianity

Članstvo Hrvatske u Europskoj uniji nova je prilika da se na dubljoj razini sagledaju rasprave o povezanosti kršćanstva i Europe. Kao prilog tomu u članku analiziramo promišljanja Marcella Pere o položaju kršćanstva u suvremenom liberalizmu i ujedinjenoj Europi te u sučeljavanju s relativizmom i njegovom praksom multikulturalnosti. Pritom postaje razvidno da ideje današnjeg liberalizma i ujedinjene Europe nisu vjerne svojim izvornim premisama, što dovodi do zaborava kršćanskoga i stvarne neujedinjenosti Europe. Europa se ne može ujediniti bez svoje duše, odnosno bez svoga identiteta koji je konceptualno i povijesno oblikovan kršćanstvom. U tom smislu uočava se bliskost misli agnostika Pere i pape Benedikta XVI.Croatian membership in the European Union is a new opportunity to examine the discussions on connections between Christianity and Europe. As our contribution to these discussions, we analyze in the article the views of Marcello Pera regarding the place of Christianity in contemporary liberalism and in united Europe, and in confrontation with relativism and its practice of multiculturalism. At the same time it becomes clear that the ideas of contemporary liberalism and united Europe are not devoted to their original premises, which leads to oblivion of Christianity and to actual disunity of Europe. Europe cannot be united without its soul, i.e. without its identity which is conceptually and historically shaped by Christianity. In that sense, one can see the closeness of thoughts of agnostic Pera and Pope Benedict XVI