As Europe Ponders Its Future, Italian Minister Rocco Buttiglione Sees 'Radical Secularism' At The Heart Of A Continental Divide
World Magazine did an interview with Italian Minister Rocco Buttiglione.
He has an interesting story. Commenting on the disintegration of the European Union:
Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage Rocco Buttiglione believes there is an underlying root to the disaffection. The continent's radical secularism, he told WORLD, not only cannot solve its problems but will hasten its dissolution.
Along with other leading scholars and religious leaders, Mr. Buttiglione opposed the constitution because it failed to acknowledge at least one thing: Europe's roots. In its passage on the foundation of European civilization, the constitution fails to make reference to Christianity.
Before that campaign Mr. Buttiglione already was a household name in Europe, an adjective even, after an EU parliamentary panel rejected his nomination to the European Commission. Mr. Buttiglione told the panelists he held a traditional view of marriage and believed homosexuality was a sin—statements that led to his dismissal and prompted politicians to steer from "the Buttiglione treatment" and the French press to warn against "the Buttiglione misadventures."
The Italian reports that he is "not pessimistic," despite Europe's present woes. "Jesus has promised that the Church will survive, not European Christians," said Mr. Buttiglione, who is a lawyer by training and a university professor, in addition to political organizer.
Which is one reason that the center of Christianity in the world is shifting from the West to Africa.
Catch the entire interview over at http://worldmag.com/displayarticle.cfm?id=10715