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that it's entering the EMS currency
plan partly to keep Europe from be–
coming a Deutschemark zone, as a
means of countering Germany's eco–
nomic domination of Europe- and of
France. At the same time, the Euro–
pean bloc is becoming more Catholic
in nature. Spain and Portugal are
drawing closer to membership in the
Common Market, a long with Greece
(which is Orthodox), while Protes–
tant Britain is on the verge of drop–
ping out. Catholic lreland, however,
is "in" Europe.
lt
remains yet to be seen what role
the new head of t he Roman Catholic
Church will play. John Paul 11, the
former Archbishop of Krakow, Po–
land, has spent most of bis adult life
behind the ! ron Curtain. He knows
the Communist mentality well, bear–
ing the scars of church-state confron–
tation in Poland.
In his first address he asserted that
"we have no intention of political in–
terference, nor of participa tion in the
working out of temporal affairs." But
sorne observers feel that the pope
cannot escape his unique background
and training. In fact, Eurocommu–
nism expert Carl Marzani , writing in
the October 28, 1978, issue of
The
Nation,
goes so far as to say: "The
probable influence of John Paulll on
East-West relations, on the Common
Market, on Washington, is awesome
and unpredictable."
Perhaps it is significant that the
very "spiritofCharlemagne" has been
invoked in these modero times .
Charles, or Charlemagne, was the
very prototype of a "Christian king"
and emperor. According to the
Ency–
clopaediaBritannica,
volume4, pages
44-45 ( 15th edition), "Charles early
acknowledged tite close connection
between temporal power and the
church; he had a high regard for the
church and the king's duty to spread
the Christian faith.... Given the in–
dissoluble tie between temporal power
and the Christian faith, this meant
they [bis subjects] had to be con–
verted."
With this "political resurrection"
of Charlemagne, will the revivifica–
tion of Europe's religious heri tage
follow not too far behind?
In November 1975, in a little rec–
ognized event, the late Pope Paul VI
12
told a gathering of Roman Catholic
bishops, cardinals, and prelates in
Rome that it was their mission to
"reawaken Europe's Christian soul,
where its unity is rooted." It was the
Catholic faith "that made Europe"
in the past , the Pontiff stressed.
Indeed, the Holy Roman Empire
of the Middle Ages held forth the
pretension, at least , of political unity,
but its primary unity was found in
the religious sphere. The Roman
church was the real rallying point,
providing a unifying theme among
the diverse national and political ele–
ments on the Continent.
As far as today's Common Market
(as well as the EMS, which is virtua lly
the same grouping) is concerned, one
thing is painfully obvious:
lt
is com–
posed ofmember nations whoare pol i–
tically a nd economically strong,
mixed in with those who a re weak.
lt
is
a coalescing group the Bible portrays
as being "partly strong and partly
weak" and as "iron mixed with miry
clay" (Daniel 2:42). More than mere
monetary coordination- as evidenced
by the last-second French-German
dispute over EMS-is needed.
Objective: " Super-Europe"
All a long, the founders of the new
Europe under construction since the
end of the Second World War as–
serted that economic integration was
not an end in itself but rather a
means to a
political
end.
In the declaration which in 1950
projected the European Coal and
Steel Community (forerunner of the
Common Ma rket) , Robert Schuman
called it "the first concrete founda–
tion of a European federation."
The real guiding light behind what
carne to be known as the Schuman
Plan was Jean Monnet, the so-called
"Father of the Common Market."
Monnet is now 90 years of age. In bis
memoirs, recently completed, Mon–
net proclaims that the objective of bis
life's work remains the same today as
it has been all along: the creation of
"the United States of Europe."
Sorne Americans, too, when they
weren't focused on problems in Asia,
have been able to see, at least in part,
where Europe was headed. When the
Common Market was still less than
four years old, McGeorge Bundy, a
special adviser to the late President
Kennedy, said that the "new Europe"
was destined to becomea great power,
on equal terms wi th the United States
and theSoviet Union.
"We have in prospect," Bundy
said, "a new. Europe, with the eco–
nomic strength, the military self-con–
fidence and the political unity of a
true .great power."
Other events, however , had to
transpire before Bundy's prediction
could begin to come to pass. The will
of the United States had yet to be
tested- and crushed-in Southeast
Asia. The "Aimighty Dollar" had to
be toppled from its pinnacle.
Now the stage is being set for a
powerful Europe to come into its
own. Writing in the
New York Times
of November 9, 1978, Mary Kalder,
author of the book
The Disintegrat–
ing West,
makes these very signifi–
cant observations: "The events of the
last few weeks [the dollar's skid]
merely confirm America's decline
and the growing importance of West–
ern Europe, dominated by West Ger–
many ... a financia! giant whose
monetary reserves and manufactured
exports greatly exceed America 's.
"Western Europe has all the po–
tential of a superpower . The success
of attempts to achieve monetary
union depends on the success of re–
lated endeavors to achieve political
union and military integration, for
only these would provide the neces–
sary legitimation for a European
state able to uphold a stable Euro–
pean currency.
"A European state, since this is
what it amounts to, would represent
a powerful challenger to the United
States, a competitor that could resist
American parochia lism."
Europe has come a long way. The
EMS, when it comes into force, will
represent another milestone toward
superpower status. What happens
from now on will not be to the advan–
tageofthe United States and Britain.
Keep reading
The Plain Truth
magazine to stay abreast of these re–
ma rkable trends. And if you have not
yet done so, request Mr. Armstrong's
free booklet
The Book of Revelation
Unvei/ed at Last.
It explains the bib–
lical symbolism surrounding the big
news of today.
o
The
PLAIN TRUTH February 1979