H.R. Patapievici, in Brussels: "Today's Europe couldn't have been possible without the

The Arthus Galleries (Brussels) hosted on Wednesday evening, 11 Dec. 2019, the public lecture Europe and Christianity, by the well-known Romanian philosopher Horia Roman Patapievici. The event took place in the framework of the art exhibition The Cross: From Community to Communion, that is displayed in the Belgian capital from 20 November to 22 December 2019.

Addressing his audience, Mr. Patapievici talked on the essential theological and political changes brought about by the arrival of Christianity, especially on the way Christianity sublimated the Greek mind and used it in formulating its doctrine, appropriated Roman law and shattered the limits on the human mind and soul by affirming the belief in a God Incarnate and in the general resurrection, as they are affirmed in the Nicene Creed. The preservation of these elements by the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire and their transmission, in the 9th century, to Western Europe paved the way for later developments, such as the Renaissance, modern science and modernity. In this way, Christianity created the conditions which made possible a new self-conscience, properly defined as European. "Europe is the consequence of Christianity, in the sense that Christianity made it possible for what we now call Europe to blossom," Mr. Patapievici argued.

The event was jointly organised by the ELEON Association (Alba Iulia), in partnership with the Permanent Office of the Romanian Orthodox Church to the European Institutions and the St Nicholas Romanian Orthodox Parish in Brussels.