Some thought-provoking developments occurring recently in the politics of the European Union, presaging a future plan of action going forward which could be significant for Europe as a whole: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ly-front-runner-for-eus-top-job-idUSKCN1ND00J German conservative emerges as early front-runner for EU's top job EU-ELECTION/ (UPDATE 3, PIX, TV):UPDATE 3-German conservative emerges as early front-runner for EU's top job German conservative emerges as early front-runner for EU’s top job HELSINKI, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Manfred Weber won the backing of Europe’s centre-right parties on Thursday to stand in the race to become European Commission president in 2019. Weber, a German EU lawmaker, beat former Finnish prime minister Alexander Stubb to become the European People’s Party’s (EPP) top candidate in the European Parliament elections next May. That makes him an early front-runner for the EU’s most influential job, the head of the bloc’s executive, which proposes legislation and negotiates free-trade deals. “The campaign starts here in Helsinki,” said Weber, a 46-year-old, guitar-playing Catholic who leads the EPP group in the European Parliament. “We are bridge-builders, let’s use this momentum. Then we will win in May 2019,” he told delegates... It was a tone Weber used throughout his bid to become the successor to outgoing EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, also of the EPP. Here’s his profile, from 2014 when he became leader of the European People’s Party in the EU Parliament: https://www.politico.eu/article/manfred-weber-calm-conciliator/ Weber is also distinct on policy. He is firmly in the CSU mainstream when it comes to value issues; there is no doubting his social conservatism and his deeply-ingrained Catholicism. He is a member of the state committee of Catholics in Bavaria, the main lay body steering the church’s activities in the state. But where some of Weber’s fundamental beliefs really come to the surface is in the debate about Europe. “The EU is based on an ever-closer union of European peoples. That is set out in the treaties. It is not negotiable for us,” Weber told a German newspaper. Weber has an intricate knowledge of EU institutions but little experience in government in his homeland. In his final speech before the vote, Weber took a swipe at critics who have accused him of pandering to anti-immigrant and far-right parties with some of his past comments on the Islamic headscarf and European identity. Speaking fondly of his home village in Bavaria, in Germany’s conservative Roman Catholic south, Weber said Christianity was the “one thing in common” across Europe. “When I use this picture I am heavily attacked in social media… when I remind about the Christian heritage of this continent, that this sounds so old-fashioned, so conservative, so backward looking,” he said. “I tell you I don’t care. I think it is important to describe the fundamental values of this continent. We are proud of this and we will protect these values.” https://www.politico.eu/article/epp...enkandidat-european-parliament-election-2019/ Europe’s conservatives nominate Manfred Weber for EU top job The European People’s Party nominated their parliamentary leader as the next president of the European Commission. Weber, the German leader of the EPP grouping in the European Parliament, will be the center-right party’s Spitzenkandidat or “lead candidate” in the European Parliament election to be held in May. The grouping — which is the largest in the Parliament — aims to retain control of the EU’s top post, currently held by Jean-Claude Juncker. In his formal speech to the party plenary, Weber extolled European values: “I stand here not only to ask for your support as a candidate, but I stand here to ask you for a mandate, a mandate to change Europe!” He also stressed Europe’s Christian traditions, winning applause from the audience. Having won the nomination for centre-right candidate, Weber is likely going to be the next head of the EU executive, replacing Juncker as Commission President, should the Christian Democrats win the 2019 European Parliament elections (as they invariably have in recent years and are expected to do so again) and the European Council approves him. Meanwhile, another devout Catholic named Merz is the front-runner in the race to take over from Merkel as German Chancellor, the Union’s largest Member State: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/a...-wilderness-merz-leads-race-to-succeed-merkel Back From the Wilderness, Merz Leads Race to Succeed Merkel BERLIN (Reuters) - Businessman Friedrich Merz, back from the political wilderness, is taking an early lead in the race to succeed Angela Merkel as leader of Germany’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and secure the chance of running for chancellor - possibly even next year. Merz was pushed out of his role as CDU parliamentary leader by Merkel in 2002 - a move that cemented her grip on the party on her way to becoming chancellor in 2005. Now, his bid for power - if successful - could precipitate her demise. Merz has been out of the Bundestag since 2009, but retained a close and influential network of CDU contacts while pursuing a successful business career. The run-up to his jump back into frontline politics was long, well-timed and well-supported. Aged 62, he is less than two years younger than Merkel but presents himself as the candidate of the future, drawing on the best of the past. He is widely known for a proposal to simplify the annual tax return so that it could be written on a beer mat. "We need a re-awakening and renewal," Merz told reporters in Berlin last Wednesday when setting out his stall. "I am a convinced economic liberal, a social conservative and a socially engaged person," he said, hitting the buttons that fire up CDU members, many of whom have become uneasy with Merkel’s centrist approach during her 13 years as chancellor. One CDU lawmaker, yet to be convinced of Merz, described his pitch as “back to the roots” - a socially conservative, pro-business appeal to the party’s core of western, Catholic men who see Merkel - a Protestant woman from the east - as an anomaly. So far, the right-wing pitch is working. Polls show voters believe Merz is better placed to lead the conservatives than the other two declared candidates - CDU Secretary General Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, and Health Minister Jens Spahn. Merz wants to win support with more of a vision, including a more detailed response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposals for deepening European integration. Late last month, before announcing his run for the CDU leadership, Merz co-wrote an article calling for Germany to take “bold steps … to make the economic and monetary union stronger”. There's a reason that the original founders of the EU back in the early 1950s - Schumann, De Gaspari, Monnet and Adenauer - were all practising Catholics. Merz's policy positions in more detail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Merz#Political_positions Friedrich Merz has focused on economic policy, foreign and security policy and family policy. He has described himself as socially conservative and economically liberal, and is seen as a representative of the conservative and pro-business wings of the CDU.[3] In 2018 he described himself as “a truly convinced European, a convinced transatlanticist” and said that "I stand for a cosmopolitan Germany whose roots lie in Christian ethics and the European Enlightenment and whose most important political allies are the democracies of the West. I gladly use this expression again: The democracies of the West."[24][4] In 2018 he co-authored an article in defence of the European project, which among other things called for “an army for Europe.”[26]
Vouthon, This sounds like very good news! Thank you for sharing this with us and I'm glad to see you back on the forum. I hope that all is well with you and yours. I wonder if you are thinking of the Great Monarch in either of these two men's respect?
Well, I am ever open to the prospect - God willing! It is certainly a step in the right direction towards the ideal which the Great Monarch of the prophecies represents, at the very least. Obviously, we cannot ascertain the hidden counsels of Divine Providence but we should look for hopeful signs and I would regard this as one of them. Whatever role God may or may not have in store for these men, should they be successful in their endeavours, then excellent groundwork will be laid up for the future - which I very much pray will find completion one day, in a Second Pentecost for the Church in Europe first and then throughout the world. At long last, we might see play out the great dream of Pope St. John Paul II: w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_20030628_ecclesia-in-europa.html POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION ECCLESIA IN EUROPA OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II Mutual recognition, forms of cooperation and exchanges of all sorts are being developed in such a way that little by little, a culture, indeed a European consciousness, is being created.This we hope will encourage, especially among the young, a sense of fraternity and the will to share. We note as a very positive factor that the whole of this process is developing according to democratic procedures, in a peaceful way and in the spirit of freedom which respects and fosters legitimate diversity, encouraging and sustaining the process leading to the growing unity of Europe… More than a geographical area, Europe can be described as “a primarily cultural and historical concept, which denotes a reality born as a continent thanks also to the unifying force of Christianity, which has been capable of integrating peoples and cultures among themselves, and which is intimately linked to the whole of European culture”.(169) In the process of transformation which it is now undergoing, Europe is called above all to rediscover its true identity. Even though it has developed into a highly diversified reality, it needs to build a new model of unity in diversity, as a community of reconciled nations open to the other continents and engaged in the present process of globalization… The European Union continues to expand. All peoples who share its same fundamental heritage have a vocation to take part in it, on a short-term or a long-term basis. w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/2002/june/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20020622_costituzione-europea.html MESSAGE OF JOHN PAUL II TO THE EUROPEAN STUDY CONGRESS ON THE THEME: “TOWARDS A EUROPEAN CONSTITUTION?” The expansion of the European Union or rather, for the process of “Europeanization” of the whole continental area, that I have fostered, is a priority to be pursued courageously and quickly in order to respond effectively to the expectations of millions of men and women who know that they are bound together by a common history and who hope for a destiny of unity and solidarity...
Also: w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/2004/march/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20040324_premio-carlo-magno.html ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL II ON THE OCCASION OF THE RECEPTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL CHARLEMAGNE PRIZE OF THE CITY OF AACHEN (GERMANY) Wednesday, 24 March 2004 Aware that the Catholic Church has at heart the union of Europe, you have come here to honour the Successor of Peter with the International Charlemagne Prize. If I am able to receive this Prize today, conferred in an extraordinary and unique way, I do so with gratitude to Almighty God, who has filled the European people with the spirit of reconciliation, peace and unity. The Prize, awarded by the City of Aachen for laudable efforts to promote Europe, has very fittingly taken the name of the Emperor Charlemagne. Indeed, the King of the Franks, who established Aachen as the capital of his kingdom, made an essential contribution to the political and cultural foundations of Europe and therefore deserved the nickname Pater Europae (father of Europe) that his contemporaries gave him. The felicitous combination of classical culture and Christian faith with the traditions of various peoples took place in Charlemagne’s empire and developed in various forms down the centuries as the spiritual and cultural legacy of Europe. Even if modern Europe presents in many aspects a new reality, we can nevertheless recognize the highly symbolic value of the historical figure of Charlemagne. Today, Europe’s growing unity also includes other fathers. On the one hand, we must not underestimate those active thinkers and politicians who have given and who give priority to the joint reconciliation and growth of their peoples, instead of insisting on their own rights and on exclusion. In this context, I would like to recall those who have been awarded the Prize so far; we can greet some of them who are present here. The Apostolic See recognizes and encourages their activities and the commitment of many other personalities to the peace and unity of the European peoples. My special thanks go to those who have put all their efforts at the service of building the common European House on the foundations of the values passed on by the Christian faith as well as on those of Western culture. Since the Holy See is located in Europe, the Church has special relations with the peoples of this Continent. Therefore, from the very beginning the Holy See has been involved in the process of European integration. After the horrors of the Second World War, my Predecessor, Pius XII of venerable memory, demonstrated the keen interest of the Church by explicitly supporting the idea of forming a “European Union”, leaving no doubts about the fact that for such a union to be valid and lasting, it is necessary first of all to go back to Christianity as a factor that creates identity and unity (cf. Address of 11 November 1948 to the Union of European Federalists in Rome).
Here was Manfred Weber's successful "campaign video" to be the nominee of the EPP/Christian Democrats for the post of EU Commission President (most powerful position in Europe, head of executive) in next year's European Parliamentary elections. Note how prominently religion features in it - the camera records him praying and making the sign of the cross in a Bavarian Catholic Church: https://twitter.com/ManfredWeber/status/1059528729150529536
See this video, a speech he made in the European Parliament 2 years ago: https://www.facebook.com/EPPGroup/v...nity-is-the-soul-of-europe/10154592814012689/ “One thing is common all over Europe: in the centre of every village and town you travel through you will see a Christian church. Christianity is engraved in the DNA of our continent. Christianity is the soul of Europe. And we, as the EPP, are proud of this,” says Manfred Weber. https://en.manfredweber.eu/christianity Religion is far from an outdated concept; rather it is at the cutting-edge of society. Faith is said to be old-fashioned in times of decreasing church attendances and ongoing secularisation. Yet, the values conveyed through Christian beliefs are more contemporary than ever in our digitalised and economy driven world. Religion is deeply private. The question as to whether one believes in God is an entirely personal matter. I say yes, others say no. Personally, I feel the presence of Jesus in my daily life. Religion is not only a matter of personal belief. In the words of the philosopher Böckenförde, the state is based on values it cannot create itself. Politics is not created in a vacuum. Christian values guide political action. Politicians represent the future, not the past. Politics must shape the future. That is why we need courage to lead into the future. Politics is not a ‘normal job’. As politicians, we are accountable in a very concrete manner. During an election period, we must clearly state to the electorate what we have previously achieved, and set out our future political goals. Politics need a compass. We must lead through our Christian core beliefs in order to face present and future challenges. Weekly church attendance is no duty for me; rather it is an enriching and spiritual experience. Christianity enriches my life, inducing a sense of continuity and stability in an increasingly fast-paced world. In the past, I regularly spent time in monasteries to foster spirituality and gain renewed momentum.
