By Michael Pakaluk
Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s speech two weeks ago at the Munich Security Conference has been praised for its conciliatory tone and even for its supposed revitalization of great political oratory. Considered from the perspective of the recent papal comments on Europe, its origin and its destiny, Rubio’s words were welcome, but incomplete. However, he cannot be reproached for it; Europe has left him little room for choice in this regard.
Gabriel Marcel used to say that life in general has an existential character. One must seize the moment, or risk being like that sad passenger on the platform who has just missed his train.
I think of Marcel’s image when I recall the debates, twenty years ago, about whether the new European Union should recognize its debt to Christianity in the Preamble of the EU constitution.
A «constitution» is precisely what the word indicates—as the great Jewish jurist Joseph Weiler warned everyone at the time—: it is the act by which a people «constitutes itself». What it says at that moment fixes who it is and what it will become.
The European Union had the opportunity to constitute itself by recognizing its Christian heritage, and deliberately turned its back on it, speaking instead in anodyne terms of its commitments to «humanism», «progress», and «transparency». Does it now have any means of getting back on that missed train?
In his speech, Rubio reiterated several points from the «What We Want» section of the recent Trump administration National Security Strategy, wrapping them in warm evocations of Dante, Beethoven, Christopher Columbus, and the American settlers from the old continent:
• Europe must assume greater responsibility for its own defense;
• practice fair trade;
• and not insist on a supposed «rules-based order» that cannot guarantee peace and that is often manipulated to undermine U.S. interests.
• Moreover, Europe must not continue to undermine itself, out of excessive guilt, through massive immigration policies that erode the nation.
No diplomat there was surprised by the list. What they welcomed was that Rubio conveyed, through all those warm evocations, that «we are in this together, because we share a heritage and a civilization».
And yet, that was precisely where Rubio was unable to address the fundamental question directly—again, through no fault of our own, but Europe’s—. «We are part of the same civilization: Western civilization», he said. But Western civilization is Christian civilization. «We are bound to each other by the deepest ties that nations can share, forged by centuries of shared history, Christian faith, culture, heritage, language, and ancestry».
Ah, yes. But Europe was unable to recognize that history and that heritage. It did not constitute itself with that language.
«The alliance we want», the secretary said, «is one that is not paralyzed by fear—fear of climate change, fear of war, fear of technology—. Rather, we want an alliance that boldly launches itself toward the future. And the only fear we have is the fear of the shame of not leaving our nations prouder, stronger, and more prosperous for our children».
Not quite. «We» (and especially «they») evidently face the fear of simply not having children: the «demographic decline» that the secretary did not mention in his speech. Europe, after turning its back on Christianity, seems to have lost all boldness to have children. It suffers from hopelessness. For a profound treatment of this problem, see Pope Benedict XVI, Spe salvi («Saved in hope»).
As I read the speech, I wondered: How shrewd is Rubio exactly? Does he speak with the awareness that he is a representative of a genuine nation, addressing a set of nations that, except under one condition, lacks true unity? Was his purpose, without saying it explicitly, to send the Europeans the message that their best hope for maintaining unity, as nations and among them, is unity with us—who, in contrast, are effectively a Christian nation, de facto?
Saint John Paul II was the great commentator on European identity and unity. His post-synodal apostolic exhortation «The Church in Europe» (Ecclesia in Europa), written just as Europe was missing its train, is today as moving as it is prophetic.
He especially lamented «the loss of Europe’s Christian memory and heritage, accompanied by a kind of practical agnosticism and religious indifference, whereby many Europeans give the impression of living without spiritual roots and somewhat like heirs who have squandered a heritage that history entrusted to them».
He saw the trend:
This loss of Christian memory is accompanied by a kind of fear of the future. Tomorrow often presents itself as something dark and uncertain. The future is contemplated more with fear than with desire. Among the worrying signs of this are the inner emptiness that grips many people and the loss of the sense of life. The signs and fruits of this existential anguish include, in particular, the decrease in the number of births, the decline in the number of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life, and the difficulty, if not the open rejection, of assuming lifelong commitments, including marriage.
And he added: «Many of the great paradigms… that are at the core of European civilization have their deepest roots in the Trinitarian faith of the Church. And there is no other basis for political unity».
Throughout his pontificate, Saint John Paul II recognized Saints Cyril and Methodius, and Saints Catherine of Siena, Bridget of Sweden, and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), in addition to the traditional Saint Benedict, as patrons and patronesses of Europe. It is to be hoped that Pope Leo XIV, recognizing the civilizational emergency, will add one more to their number: his great predecessor, Saint John Paul II.
About the author
Michael Pakaluk, scholar of Aristotle and Ordinarius of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, is Professor of Political Economy at the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America. He lives in Hyattsville, Maryland, with his wife Catherine, also a professor at the Busch School, and their children. His collection of essays, The Shock of Holiness (Ignatius Press), is now available. His book on Christian friendship, The Company We Keep, is available from Scepter Press. He contributed to Natural Law: Five Views (Zondervan, last May), and his most recent book on the Gospels was published in March with Regnery Gateway, Be Good Bankers: The Economic Interpretation of Matthew’s Gospel. You can follow him on Substack at Michael Pakaluk.