I.
“The soul of Europe today resembles a burnt-out crater landscape. The volcanoes are extinguished. The fires of enthusiasm have burned out. Dark ashes lie on all living things. Skepticism and melancholy are spreading, making Europe look gray and old. We have lost our bearings. The great passions for a better future have been broken. We no longer trust ourselves to do anything great ...” (Zeitzeichen 7/2005, p. 20).
These words are twenty years old. They were written by the great German theologian of hope, Jürgen Moltmann, who died on June 3, 2024, at the age of 98. I owe him a great deal. - For me, this critical analysis of the state of Europe is very painful - for me, as someone who was born nine years after the end of the Second World War and who grew up in Bonn, Paris and Brussels with the idea that it is the task of my gen¬eration to work for a reconciled Europe.
II.
In the meantime, times have become rougher. In Germany, we are talking about an epochal “turning point”. Last year, an influential thinker in Germany, the historian Herfried Münkler, published a book entitled “World in Turmoil”. It has already appeared in its 10th edition in just one year. He interprets the “turning point” as meaning that fundamental hopes and ideals have come to an end: The idea that treaties and economic cooperation enable peoples to live together peacefully has been weakened; the idea of a community of nations working together in the UN to find global solutions to problems lacks authority; the credibility of universal human rights is under attack, as many conflicts in the recent past have shown how these values can be used to serve vested interests. According to his thesis, we are heading towards a time in which five political centers will share geopolitical power: China and the USA, Russia and India, and perhaps Europe too. However, this is uncertain because it is unclear whether Europe will manage to unite further and establish itself as an economically and militarily strong geopolitical player.
As a Christian, I can share his thesis that great visions and ideals are currently being called into question. But only as a current analysis, not as a normative thesis. The biblical traditions oblige me to continue to believe in and work for visions of peace to become reality, for justice to be developed through binding law, for treaties to be concluded and upheld in order to resolve conflicts amicably, for human dignity and human rights to be respected. As a person of faith, it is particularly important to me that the different religions acknowledge the equal dignity of all people and work for peace. The Abu Dhabi Declaration on Human Fraternity - signed by Pope Francis and Grand Imam Al Tayeb in 2019 - was an important interreligious and intercultural step towards finding common ground for human dignity and rights.
Yes, Europe and geopolitics are in crisis. But a crisis must not lead to the abandonment of ideals. Rather, it must lead to a renewed focus on fundamental values.
III.
Jürgen Moltmann, whose almost poetic text I quoted at the beginning, did not stop at an anxious analysis of the crisis. Twenty years ago, he reminded us that Europe has always been a “continent of hope” throughout its history, through revolutions, reformations and renaissances. Europe lives from traditions of unfulfilled hopes that still have their future ahead of them. Great ideas and tragic failures are part of this: First it was the idea of a Christian West, later a humanistic Europe. European visions include the vision of Immanuel Kant, who wanted to lead the nations to a peaceful world community. All these great ideas were betrayed in the world wars and totalitarianisms of the 20th century. But then the model of a reconciled and united Europe emerged in the spirit of human rights and lived solidarity. This model is now in crisis. But according to Jürgen Moltmann, this should motivate us to ask anew about the sources that have repeatedly given Europe hope.
He sees the sources of hope in the Jewish-Christian tradition, which has always linked faith in God with real human hopes: faith in God led Israel out of captivity in Egypt. Faith in the resurrected Christ did not remain just an idea, but gave rise to a community that lived charity. “The European spirit,” writes Jürgen Molt¬mann, ‘has developed in agreement and contradiction, in faith and unbelief, in arrogance and despair in this divine mystery of hope ... From this spirit of hope,’ Moltmann is convinced, ”Europe will be born anew and find its shape for the world.”
IV.
Will Europe really find its new shape for the world in the future? I am not a prophet. I can only say that many people of faith in the churches of Europe continue to live, work and pray for this peace project. Biblical faith does not give up on promises when they come to a crisis. My firm conviction is that Christians must hold on to the biblically founded visions of peace, which must be realized in the secular political world as efforts to achieve peace among nations organized through treaties.
In the current political discussion in my country, the epochal “turning point” is understood to mean that Europe must find itself as a political, economic and even military power in order to find its geopolitical role. As a Christian, I can only say: Europe also has a soul! In order to preserve its soul, Europe must hold on to its fundamental values, come to terms with past guilt and continue to search for reconciled unity.
Geopolitical thinkers may rightly say that Europe must redefine its political, economic and military role. But Christians must emphasize, that Europe must above all preserve its soul! It must be reborn from the spirit of hope! Europe must continue searching for new ideas of reconciliation and peace in order to bring these ideas into the conversation between cultures, religions and nations!