Cardinal Koch: Peace among the Churches is a responsibility for Europe

By Maria Milvia Morciano

“First, we must rediscover peace within the Church and among all the Churches. Ecumenism can help us live in balance amid diversity.” With these words, Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, explained how Christians’ first contribution to peace must be to seek greater unity and peace among the Churches themselves.

He said this in Rome at the conference “Religions and Diplomacy,” taking place from September 28 to 30 at Palazzo San Calisto, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the International Association Political Charity.

What can religions offer in the search for peace? What role can diplomacy play in resolving conflicts? These questions are at the heart of the initiative.

The presentation also pointed to a growing demand for moral reference points in public life, while scientific and technological developments are raising new questions for societies and governments. The opening session also brought together diplomatic representatives accredited to the Holy See and Maria Angela Falà, former president of the Italian Buddhist Union.

A Europe that is more than its economy

The cardinal began with a familiar image of the continent: the European Union, its institutions, the common market and the euro.

It is a decisive achievement, born in part from the determination to prevent a repetition of the wars that devastated Europe. Yet its identity does not end with its economic and political structures. For Cardinal Koch, Europe is also a historical, spiritual and cultural reality, and this raises the question guiding his presentation—can Europe have a future if it loses awareness of its origins? He also pointed to the relationship between the words “culture” and “worship” (culto), drawing attention to the religious dimension that has helped shape cultures, even though culture and worship are often regarded today as separate.

To understand Europe’s roots, he proposed the image of three hills: Golgotha in Jerusalem, the Acropolis in Athens and the Capitoline Hill in Rome. In them, he sees the encounter between the biblical heritage, Greek thought and the Roman legal tradition, echoing Benedict XVI, who in his 2011 address to the Bundestag identified this encounter as one of the origins of European culture.

In the Greek heritage, the prefect recognized the search for the good and the true—a democracy, he observed, needs a law and a criterion of justice that do not depend solely on the will of the majority. In encountering Greek philosophy, the Christian faith embraced the rational search for truth as part of its own history. Turning to ancient Rome, the cardinal emphasized its legal tradition and its ability to bring Christianity and political power into dialogue, developments that also contributed to the distinction between Church and State—essential to freedom of conscience.

The opening session of the “Religions and Diplomacy” conference being held in Rome

In his view, these roots concern more than the past. Europe is called to pass on three principles: reference to God, the dignity of the human person and social responsibility.

Human beings, he argued, cannot be understood as isolated individuals, because they realize their freedom through relationships with others. Cardinal Koch spoke of a profound weakening of respect for human life, which he connected to the loss of awareness of God’s presence in public life. Remembering Europe’s Christian roots, he clarified, does not mean asking for a privileged position for the Church, but recognizing a component of Europe’s cultural history and asking about its vitality today.

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Peace also begins with the Churches

Asked what contribution the Churches can make when politics and diplomacy struggle to find a way forward, Cardinal Koch first turned his attention to the Christian world itself. The starting point, he recalled, must be the misunderstandings, differences and polarization present today, adding the need to “rediscover peace among all the Churches.”

Only on the basis of relationships lived in this way, he argued, can Christians help society seek unity and peace. The ecumenical journey can offer an experience of living together in which diversity does not prevent the search for unity. It is in this sense that Cardinal Koch invoked the Augustinian motto of Pope Leo XIV—In illo uno unum—a reference for the Catholic Church, for ecumenism and, in his perspective, also for civil coexistence.