National Values or Multiculturalism? An Ethical and Historical Perspective on Religion and its Potential for Mediation

The ideal of European integrity is pushed far afield by religious clashes, military conflicts, economic disparities and an ever-growing number of migrants and refugees. The multifaceted Europe needs something strong for a common development. What is the potential of religion and ethical attitudes in this transformation process? Tolerance, respect for diversity, multiethnicity and multiculturalism are kept intact in several European regions, such as the Romanian Banat. Having been ruled by either Ottomans or Austro-Hungarians, this border region embraced freedom for religions, developing an enduring peaceful cohabitation; despite recurrent antagonisms between Hungary and Romania over ethnic minorities, or divergences on similar grounds in Romania`s foreign policy regarding the EU aspiration of its neighboring country, Serbia. We will explore the role of Churches in perpetuating moral values, focusing on the historical background of this region and taking especially into account the events in its capital city of Timisoara, from December 1989. In conjunction to the Fall of the Berlin Wall and to the overall decline of socialist regimes in Eastern Europe, the Romanian Revolution was to dramatically change the geopolitical spectrum of international relations.