The Europa Diary of the European Commission Each year, the European Commission publishes a European school diary for schoolchildren throughout the European Union. Three millions copies of the 2010-2011 version of this diary, distributed to schools for free at the request of teachers, have been edited.The current version of this diary does not mention any Christian feasts, but do give the dates of Islamic, Sikh, Hindu and Chinese feast days.It does not refer, for example, to Christmas, recently celebrated through all Europe.
Why is this omission unacceptable ? - The role of Christianity in the European construction is an undeniable and historical fact. How can this diary pretend to inform teenagers about the EU, removing all references to Christianity, negating a religion that contributed so much to its construction and unity ?
- Christianity is the first religion in Europe. This oversight offends many people. The denial of something so important for them, the oversight of the values and beliefs they share, is intolerable.
- Christianity is not only a religious factor, but also a cultural and founder factor of the history and identity of many European Nation’s. Christian holidays, in particular Christmas and Easter, absent in this diary, are celebrated through all Europe by many persons, even non Christians.
Whatever the reasons of this oversight of the Christian holidays in the 2010-2011 Europa diary may be, with this petition, we ask :
- That the school diary, in its current version, may not be distributed.
- That the future 2011-2012 diary explicitly mentions Christian holidays.
I have signed the petition, if you want to join me, click on this link.
