June 13, 2006: During the biannual Catholic convention, held this year in Saarbrücken on the last weekend of May, German chancellor Angela Merkel voiced her personal support for including a reference to God in any future constitution for the European Union. The current wording of the proposed EU constitution contains no reference to God or to Christianity as the dominant religious influence in Europe's history. Instead, the text of the treaty refers only in a general way to Europe's cultural, religious and humanistic heritage. Since voters in France and the Netherlands rejected the treaty last year, it is widely expected that at some point in the future a revised draft will be resubmitted to EU members for approval.

"We live in a world where we want to understand and be understood by other religions and cultures," Merkel said at the 96th Catholic convention held in Germany. According to the chancellor, that also means that Europe should be able to profess its heritage and religion. Merkel see Europe as missing something if it removes itself from its historical roots

Merkel's comments have Germany joining Italy, Poland and Spain – all predominantly Catholic countries – in supporting a direct reference to God in a future EU constitution. The three Catholic countries were unsuccessful in having a reference included in the current proposed treaty. With Germany scheduled to assume the rotating EU council Presidency for the first six months of 2007, the debate over whether or not to refer to God in Europe's future may flare up again.

There could hardly be a greater contrast between Merkel's public support for a reference to God and the "godless" stance taken by her predecessor's government. When Gerhard Schröder was sworn into office as Helmut Kohl's successor in 1998, he was the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany not to end his oath of office with the words "So help me God." Schröder's Minister of the Environment, environmentalist politician Jürgen Trittin, explained his refusal to refer to God by saying that he had not needed God in his life "up to now" [in 1998] and did not expect to need him in the future.

Merkel's open support for a reference to God is all the more remarkable because her partner in the "grand coalition" that forms her government is the Social Democratic Party, the party of former chancellor Schröder. No doubt the Roman Catholic Church is pleased with Merkel's public profession. Earlier reports indicated that the Vatican had been displeased with some trends within the European Union, including the failure to include a reference to God or Christianity in the proposed EU constitution and the legalization of same-sex marriages in EU member countries.