23-03-2006

The “Fondazione Europa” Association for the respect of Catholic values is born

The new “Fondazione Europa” Association was officially launched in the Press Room of the European Parliament in Brussels on March 22, 2006. The mission of the association is to promote the principles of the Social Doctrine within European institutions.

The “Fondazione Europa” is based in Paris and has branch offices in Belgium (in Brussels) and in Italy (in Milan) and was established a few days ago with the support of CESPAS (Centro Europeo di Studi su Popolazione, Ambiente e Sviluppo - European Center of Studies on Population, the Environment and Development) and Fondation de Service Politique.
The aim of “Fondazione Europa”, whose President is Giorgio Salina, also Vice President of CESPS and collaborator of the Apostolic Nunciature for the European Communities in Brussels, is to work to ensure that the values that stem from the Catholic experience are respected and promoted within the Institutions of the European Union.
In this perspective, the Association will seek accreditation from those institutions and take part in public hearings to present a position that is in full accordance with the Social Doctrine of the Church and will cooperate with those European deputies who share such values.
The Press Conference was attended by Euro-deputies Antonio Tajani and Mario Mauro (Italy), José Ribeiro e Castro (Portugal), Maria Martens (Nederland), Anna Zaborska (Slovakia), Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou (Greece) and Peter Liese (Germany).
Among the founding members of the association are Riccardo Cascioli, President of CESPAS; Francis Jubert, of the Association pour la Fondation de Service Politique; Kazimierz Korab, of the Convention of Christians for Europe (Poland); Josep Miró i Ardèvol, of the Convention of Christians for Europe (Spain).
The scope of the Association is in line with the initiatives that have been taken within the European Parliament and throughout Europe for the inclusion of a reference to Christian heritage in the preamble of the Constitutional Treaty.
These actions were undertaken with the support of several Euro-deputies and Associations of various Member States and were prepared and discussed in a series of meetings that took place in Barcelona, Le Puy-en-Velay, Milan and Warsaw.
The Association has no hierarchical ties with the episcopate but is stands true to the values of the Catholic Church and aims to promote the principles of the Social Doctrine among European institutions “in the spirit of the Brussels Manifesto, proclaimed by the European Parliament on April 3, 2003, by giving visibility to the presence and commitment of Catholics to European issues  in a democratic manner in order for their position to be considered, in a democratic manner, in the decisions that are made”, as it explains in a communiqué.
In order to “promote the dignity and the rights of man as founding principles of Europe”, and to “implement such promotion in every sector and every phase of the life of the citizens of the Union”, the Association wishes to “quickly obtain accreditation from the European Parliament in order to make its presence official”.
Moreover, the Association plans to build “a network of Scholars and Experts who are willing to cooperate to provide an in-depth scientific analysis of the issues that are debated in the European Institutions” and to follow “the proceedings of the Institutions of the European Union that directly and indirectly concern the dignity and the rights of man in order to be able to submit proposals in this regard”.
At the same time, the Associations aims to create “a network of associations that are faithful to the values that have nourished our common European history and upon which the Union can build its future” and also to organize “meetings, conferences or any other kind of activity to form and inform the members of this network at the European Parliament or in the individual Member States”.