The push for inclusion of Christianity in European Constitution


Zenit News Agency carries two reports in its first bulletin after the break on the debate going on about the inclusion of Christianity in the European Constitution. Last Friday the President of the European Parliament, Patrick Cox, had a meeting with Pope John Paul and later met with Cardinal Angelo Sodan, Vatican Secretary of State. Following the audience, Vatican Press Office director Joaquin Navarro-Valls explained in a statement that the Holy See does not ask for a privileged legal status. Rather, it asks "for the safeguarding of the effective exercise of religious liberty, in full respect of the secular character of civil and community institutions, as well as of non-confessional organizations," he said. In a separate report, the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, says the future European Constitution should not exclude cultural and religious traditions, especially the Christian, which forged the continent.

SOURCES - FULL STORIES:
Zenit "Europarliament Leader Hears Plea over Constitution"
Zenit "EC President Backs Inclusion of Christianity in a European Constitution"

8 Jan 2003