April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
PERSPECTIVE
Catholics and the Brexit vote
Catholics and the Brexit vote
A new word has become part of everyday vocabulary recently: "Brexit."
Many people may not have been aware of the fierce debate that was going on in the United Kingdom since a referendum was made possible by a special act of parliament in May 2015.
That was to fulfill a pre-election pledge in 2013 by British Prime Minister James Cameron that, if the Conservative party was elected, it would hold a referendum on European Union (EU) membership. It was as an attempt to settle the long-running issue in the UK (and in the Conservative party) of whether to remain in the EU.
Awareness about Brexit for many came on the morning of June 24, when the result was announced: By a vote of 52 percent to 48 percent, citizens of the UK (and Gibraltar) decided to leave the EU.
It was a shock. It sent the stock market into a tailspin, at least temporarily.
On a personal level, it was a moment of mixed emotions, since I can still vote as a British citizen in UK elections or referenda for up to 15 years after no longer being resident in the UK. (I did vote, by mail, but my choice is a secret that remains with me!)
Britain had joined the then-European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973, but just two years later, there was already a referendum on whether to remain. The "stay" vote was 67 percent.
Since that first referendum in 1975, there had been various renegotiations of the membership treaties -- not least, when the EEC morphed into the European Union under the 1992 Maastricht Treaty.
Many in the UK and elsewhere saw the change of name as significant: from an economic or "common market" group that also had a political element and agenda, to a political group that also had some economic elements.
In fact, in 1993, the then-Prime Minister John Major was forced to call a vote of confidence in the government so that parliament would ratify the Maastricht Treaty. The rumblings have continued ever since.
The vote to leave is complex, as are reasons behind how people voted. What the vote did reveal are the many divisions within the UK and that these divisions have consequences - something we may feel in the U.S., as well.
For example, there is a geographical difference. Scotland, northern Ireland and much of London and parts of the southeast of England voted to remain, while Wales and the bulk of England voted to leave. This leaves serious questions over how "united" the United Kingdom is.
There was also a notable difference in age. Three-quarters of those ages 18-24 voted to remain. This fell to 56 percent in the 24-49 age group, then to 44 percent for the 50-64 group and 39 percent for those over 65.
Education played a role: The higher the level of education, the more likely was the vote to remain. Seventy-one percent of those with a bachelor's degree or higher voted to remain, whereas 34 percent of those with no equivalent of a high school diploma voted to remain.
It's interesting to look at the religious dimension to the campaign and the vote. In surveys before the actual vote, there were differences among faith groups:
• 52 percent of Anglicans (Episcopalians) said they would vote to leave (34 percent to remain, with 14 percent undecided);
• 42 percent of Catholics said they would vote to leave (but 43 percent would vote to remain);
• for those of no religious affiliation, 34 percent said they would vote to leave, but 52 percent would vote to remain!
There has been much debate on why these differences exist. Age is one factor, but some also suggest that Catholics were more likely to vote to remain because many are first- or second-generation immigrants from European countries, or because there is a great sense of a pan-European identity (as in a "catholic" or universal Church) among Catholics.
Church history could help here: Many of our saints were born in one country, but lived most of their life in another! Could we say that a Catholic identity is not embedded totally in a national identity, but also goes beyond it?
Ben Ryan of the British thinktank Theos notes that the European community was founded in the 1950s by a group of largely Catholic politicians from the various Christian Democratic parties of the time. He concludes, "The origins of the EU owe a lot to a particularly Catholic political philosophy."
He identifies three founding ideas: solidarity (peace, acceptance and concern for the poor or vulnerable), subsidiarity (action taken at a local level whenever possible) and a moral/religious vision (especially the idea that Christianity is at the root of European culture). Ryan believes many of these ideas were adapted from Catholic philosophy and social teaching.
Unfortunately, many critics of the current EU suggest that it has lost sight of much of this:
• Subsidiarity has been replaced by a highly-centralized, national way of doing things.
• Any direct reference to Europe's religious roots was deliberately omitted from the European Charter on Fundamental Rights (promulgated in 2000 and taking the force of law in 2009).
That omission was criticized both by Church leaders, such as then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI), and by leading politicians like French Socialist and former European Commission President Jacques Delors and Italian Christian Democrat Romano Prodi.
Another religious element has, in a way, been attitudes toward immigration. To me, anti-immigration sentiments seemed like the elephant in the room during the campaigning. After the surprise vote to leave, the statements of both Roman Catholic Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster and the Anglican Archbishops of Canterbury and York largely focused on immigration and the need to avoid racism, xenophobia or action against immigrants.
Whatever the case, Pope Francis commented after the vote about the need to respect the will of the people, but he also spoke of the need for unity. He gave an implied reminder about balancing the unique, God-given vocation of each person to make a difference with the unity of a wider community common good.
"Give more independence; give greater freedom to the countries of the Union. Think of another form of union; be creative," the pope told journalists, adding that "something is not working in this massive Union."
Perhaps, in looking at the campaign and vote, we can also question ourselves about how all the issues raised are not just "Brexit issues." They also hit much closer to home.[[In-content Ad]]
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