THE CHRISTIAN IN POLITICS AND IN CONTEMPORARY EUROPE

This lecture-essay deals with the problem of complex relations that Christians, namely Catholics entertained during centuries with politics, Catholics in general and most particularly in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Boka. In his attempt to analyse those relations, qualified as miss-encounter of Catholics with politics, the author outlines, on the one hand, internal spiritual and ethic reasons that paralysed Catholics in their relation to the politics and to the public commitment. The author presents also their misunderstanding of politics coming from their refusal to be in the world, their lack of understanding of the relative autonomy of politics and their narrow reading of theorist, from Macchiavelli to Moderns. On the other hand, the essay analyses external constraints (long foreign rule and occupation) that impeded and even excluded Croatian Catholics from politics, especially during the communist totalitarianism they had to suffer. The essay attempts to sketch evolution of Christians and politics during two millennia, in order to highlight the contribution of Church to the birth of Europe and that of committed Catholics to the social teaching of the Church; the contribution of Christian philosophers and intellectuals, especially French personalists, to the positive approach to politics, to political commitment and to resistance to totalitarianisms; the contribution of Catholics to the European integrations. The author outlines the importance for citizens in transitional countries to invest themselves in learning democracy and Europe, in preparing themselves for political and social commitment in new conditions that democracy and European integrations offer to all citizens. From the beginning to the end, the essay lays particular stress on the necessity that in new, democratic conditions, the politicisation of lays be accepted and even facilitated by the Church, but be also accompanied by de-politicisation of clergy and hierarchy.