The significant speech of John Paul II, which unfortunately was never sufficiently noticed by the public returns to my memory. This is a speech given in October 1988 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. It was then that the Pope finally cut off all attempts to return to the former religious integrationism. He also acknowledged that too many times Christians have crossed the line between what is God and what is imperial.
It is worth recalling one passage in particular, because it will help to better understand what the concept of secularism was for Karol Wojtyła, that is, the necessary distinction between the modern and the spiritual: “Our European culture is rich in examples of crossing the line between “imperial” and “divine”. Medieval Latin Christianity – to mention only it – theoretically took on the great tradition of Aristotle, and although it developed a natural concept of the state, it did not always know how to repel in practice the integralistic temptation to exclude from the modern community those who did not profess true faith. Religious integralism – still practiced in other parts of the world – does not distinguish between the sphere of faith and the secular sphere; it seems that it cannot be reconciled with the Christian message’s formation as the genius of a proper Europe.”
In this way, it is also possible to better understand how the Pope, by putting off the former model of the Church characterized by intransigence, has sketched out a new vision of the Church, a vision of a Church capable of facing and accepting the challenge of a modern and pluralistic society.
With the consent of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz – “Testimony”.
TBA marketing communication Publishing House. Warsaw 2007
