On Vision and Action for European Integration: From Robert Schuman to Pope Francis

Abstract

After the Second World War, Europe faced the question of what kind of political future to choose. Exactly five years after the end of the war, Robert Schuman proposed a declaration that opened the way for European integration: the European Community, later renamed the European Union, was created. This paper presents the circumstances of the creation of the Schuman Declaration and the vision that led him and other founding fathers to the realization of a completely new way of connecting European states. Three of the founding fathers of the European Community, Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer and Alcide de Gasperi, were devout Christians. In the paper, we show their understanding of the relationship between democracy, European integration and Christianity. According to Schuman, European institutions need a spirit, Europe needs a soul. What does this mean and how is it that only a few of the later European political leaders paid attention to this aspect? The last part of the article regards the efforts of Pope Francis to make Europe a place of peace and economic development, and furthermore, to strengthen the essence of its identity, encourage creativity and recognize its responsibility to its own nations and citizens, as well as responsibility to others in a globally connected world. The series of speeches by Pope Francis on Europe, including in the European Parliament, shows his closeness to the vision of Schuman and the founding fathers of the European Union on the one hand, and on the other hand, he directs attention to the present and the future.

Keywords

• robert schuman
• founding fathers of the european community
• christianity
• democracy
• pope francis
• european union