A EUROPEAN Union communications guide replacing “Merry Christmas” with “happy holidays” and “Christmas holidays” with “Winter break” was retracted after strong condemnation from Christian and secular voices, including the Holy See.
EU Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli officially withdrew the document after the backlash and said it was “a work in progress”.
Posting an EU statement on Twitter, Ms Dalli said it was not “a mature document” and was intended to showcase the “diversity of European culture” and inclusivity of the European Union.
Holy See Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin denounced the 32-page internal document named #UnionOfEquality.
Cardinal Parolin told Vatican News he believed the concern to erase discrimination was right, but the path the EU took was not.
He said this path risked destroying the human person in two ways.
“The first is the differentiation that characterises our world,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the tendency is to homogenise everything, not knowing how to respect even rightful differences, which naturally should not become a conflict or a source of discrimination, but should be integrated in order to build a full and integral humanity.
“The second – the forgetfulness of what is a reality.
“And whoever goes against reality puts themselves in serious danger.
“Then, there is the cancellation of our roots, the Christian dimension of our Europe, especially with regard to Christian festivals.
“Of course, we know that Europe owes its existence and its identity to many influences, but we certainly cannot forget that one of the main influences, if not the main one, was Christianity itself.
“Therefore, destroying the difference and destroying the roots means precisely to destroy the person.”
