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“Although the European Union’s proposed constitution makes no mention of any faith, a close examination of the religious leanings of its founding fathers and some current leaders reveals that there could be an underlying, although informal, religious influence between the European Union and the Roman Catholic Church. ...
“Looking to the religious background of the European Union’s ‘official’ founding fathers, all were Roman Catholics. Alcide de Gasperi, Robert Shuman, and Konrad Adenauer are being considered for Roman Catholic sainthood as a ‘reward for founding the European Community ‘on Roman Catholic principles.’ ...
“Perhaps the European Union’s flag, its prime symbol, reflects these principles. ... The flag is described as having a blue background, portraying the sky over the western world, and upon this ‘sky’ is a ‘circle of gold stars [which] represents solidarity and harmony between the peoples of Europe. ... With no relationship between the number of stars and the number of states, interpretation of the meaning of the stars is left to individual imagination. ... a spokesman for the European Union ‘pointed out that the circle of twelve stars was a Christian symbol representing the Virgin Mary’s halo.’ ... Leon Marchal offered an understanding of the twelve stars when he said that they symbolized ‘the woman of the Apocalypse’ of Revelation 12. When the flag’s designer, Arsene Heitz of Strasbourg, was questioned regarding the interpretation of the flag’s design, he indicated that he based his design upon the iconography of the image of the Immaculate Conception of Mary as seen in Paris’ Rue du Bac.
“At Rue du Bac on November 27, 1830, Catherine Laboure had an apparition of Mary standing on a globe of the world while crushing a snake’s head with her feet. Around her head were twelve stars. ... In 1955, Heitz was inspired to use the stars in his flag’s design while reading a description of the apparition. The symbol of twelve stars is linked with the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. ...
“Throughout history, the Roman Catholic Church has expressed a strong interest in Europe and its dream. In 1309, the Vatican consecrated Europe to the Virgin Mary and placed it under her patronage. More recently, on four separate occasions the late Pope John Paul II consecrated ‘the world to our Lady.’ In Gibraltar is the shrine of ‘Our Lady of Europe.’ The EU recently granted one-half of the total cost of the shrine’s restoration. In 1979, Pope Paul II officially approved Mary’s title as ‘Our Lady of Europe’ and transferred her feast day to May 5, to coincide with Europe Day. On this occasion, the Pope expressed the Dream of Europe and how it might be achieved by saying that ‘...under the patronage of Mary, the human family will be drawn ever more closely into fraternal unity and peaceful coexistence’” (Robert Congdon, The European Union and the Supra-Religion, pp. 190-200; for documentation of the quoted statements see the book).
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