Św. Benedykt z Nursji jako patron Europy w nauczaniu Jana Pawła II

Abstract

Contemporary Europe is experiencing a serious crisis, manifested, among others in demographic problems and in the axiological vacuity caused by the expelling of religion from all areas of life. The causes of this crisis are much deeper and not are only on the economic and political level. We have the crisis of the identity. One must to look for an antidote to this situation. One of the authorities who often speaks on themes linked with the identity of Europe is John Paul II, who for almost 27 years of his pontificate devoted many initiatives, speeches, homilies and documents to this matter. The proposal of the papal teaching concerns, among others, references to the heritage of the Saint Patrons of the Old Continent: Benedict, Cyril and Methodius, Brigitte of Sweden, Catherine of Siena and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. We don’t just mean here about recalling their historical merits, but above all about the actuality of their message for contemporary Europeans. St. Benedict, called the Western Founder of Religious Order, teaches us, by creating the first religious low, how to perceive what is eternal in a world dominated by consumption. Thanks to the developed principle of ora et labora, it opposes the prevailing disintegration and teaches us the correct approach to human work. From his teaching, contemporary societies marked by the “crisis of fatherhood” can learn what it means to be a real “Father”.