Special issues of The Way, such as this one, are planned a long time in advance. The editorial board therefore tries to forecast which subjects might be topical when the edition goes to press. Sometimes an anniversary can ensure that this is so—in 2017, for example, we will be marking the five-hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. The current issue, though, is rather different. Admittedly we planned it when Europe was very much in the news in Britain, since a referendum on the country’s continued membership of the European Union had recently been called. It was unclear, though, whether this would still be a hot topic several months later. In fact, after the vote in June in favour of ‘Brexit’, the topicality of this issue is assured. That leads to a second question. The debate over Europe may be topical, but is it spiritual? The answer to that is, perhaps, simpler to state than to demonstrate. The Ignatian spirituality that underpins this journal holds that God is at work in our everyday world, and also that an important element of any Christian life is to be attentive to signs of God’s presence and activity. It is legitimate to ask, therefore, where signs of God at work can be found in Europe today, and in the political task of bringing the countries of what has frequently been a war-torn continent into a more peaceful and fruitful coexistence.
Frank Turner, ‘The Role of Europe in the Last Three Papacies’, 7–20
In Francis, Benedict XVI and John-Paul II, the Roman Catholic Church has experienced three very different Popes. Each, though, has spoken repeatedly about the significance of Europe for the contemporary Church. Unsurprisingly, their assessments of this significance has been different, as Frank Turner shows here.
Philip Endean, ‘‘Brexit’, Ignatius, Jesus and the Road to Jerusalem’, 21–30
Referenda, such as the recent vote in Britain about the country’s continued membership of the European Union, risk promoting simple answers to questions of great complexity. This can seem very far from the nuanced processes of Ignatian discernment. Philip Endean argues here, though, that the UK referendum result reveals attitudes calling for just such a discerning approach.
Mary Frances McKenna, ‘A Consideration of Christianity’s Role in Pluralistic Society’, 31–47
Many European societies are characterized by pluralism, the more-or-less peaceful co-existence of people of many different religions, ethnic backgrounds, political outlooks and systems of belief. This can be a challenge to the Christian Church, formerly dominant throughout the continent. McKenna here presents a positive view of the Church’s role in the pluralistic Europe of today.
Jean-Marc Balhan, ‘Living Together with Muslims in Europe and Overcoming Fear: A ‘Spiritual Exercise’’, 49–62
Although Christians and Muslims have lived alongside each other in Europe for centuries, mass immigration of Muslims from other parts of the world in recent decades has highlighted the challenges that such proximity can present. Balhan here outlines a ‘spiritual exercise’ that can be used to face up to and explore such challenges.
Javier Melloni, ‘Spirituality in a Post-Christian Europe’, 63–73
The loss of Christianity’s political and cultural dominance in Europe has led many to describe the continent as ‘post-Christian’. In Melloni’s view, the Church has left a legacy of spirituality that still has the potential to offer a powerful response to the needs of Europe’s citizens, even where the institutions that one enshrined this spirituality are rejected.
Sébastien Maillard, ‘Pope Francis, Refugees and Recovering Europe’s Soul’, 75–86
Pope Francis has described himself as one ‘called from the ends of the earth’ to the papacy. As an outsider, he has a particular view of both Europe’s current spiritual crisis and of how this crisis might be met. According to Maillard, Francis thinks that finding a just response to the needs of refugees could be an important part of this response.
George Pattery, ‘Euoprean Spirituality: Not ‘Either-Or’ but ‘Both-And’’, 87–95
‘O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us. To see oursels as ithers see us!’ These words of the Scottish poet Robert Burns apply well to this article, in which George Pattery, a former Jesuit Provincial in India, offers a view of European spirituality as it app
Agusti Nicolau Coll, ‘Ramon Llull, a Master of Dialogue and Reconciliation’, 96–104
2016 marks the seventh centenary of the death of the lay Spanish Catalan philosopher and theologian Ramon Llull. Here, Nicolau Coll traces themes of dialogue and reconciliation which run through his published works. Growing out of his contact with Jews and Muslims, the ideas remain relevant to a continent in which dialogue between different faiths has a vital importance.
Robert Faesen, ‘Why Does the History of Christian Spirituality Matter?’, 105–117
Faesen’s article starts by making a distinction between spirituality and its history. He believes that the latter has a great contemporary importance since ‘this history helps us to pay attention to the genuine encounter between God as God and the human person as human’. It is this encounter, in its turn, which lies at the heart of the Christian humanism that Europe spread throughout the world.
Mark Rotsaert, ‘Ignatian Spirituality: Some Changes in Vision And Practice’, 118–127
It is widely recognised that the understanding of St Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises has been transformed in the last five decades. Here Mark Rotsaert traces elements of this evolution as it has developed in a European context, at the levels of both theory