Saint Karl, Europe, and Christianity

This column includes some interesting thoughts about the significance of the canonization on Sunday of Karl I, the last emperor of Austria-Hungary.

Karl was crowned in 1916 as his empire, in league with Germany, found itself on the losing side of World War I. His best-known act on the throne was his failed attempt to negotiate an early peace with the Allies, separate from Kaiser Wilhelm II. The effort failed and, when both states surrendered in 1918, Karl was deposed and his Hapsburg dynasty ended.

Describing Karl, a Vienna-based correspondent for the Chicago Sun-Times observed: "Some think he's already a saint for seeking a peaceful end to World War I. Others think he's a scoundrel for commanding troops who used poison gas." He died, exiled, in 1922.

The author offers some thoughts about the possible "political" motivations behind Karl's canonization, noting that "the making of saints has always been political as well as religious":

In April, a Vatican official praised Karl as a leader who "looked for peace." On Sunday, the Pope described Karl as a role model "for those who have political responsibility in Europe today." The pope, of course, has opposed the Iraq war.

But the significance of a future Saint Karl is even deeper, because it speaks to the pope's desire to retain a certain churchly influence on politics. More than any other dynasty in Europe, the Hapsburgs - who at one time ruled Spain, Italy and Germany as well as Austria - were the church's closest allies in Europe. In battles with Muslims, Protestants and secular radicals, the Hapsburgs were steadfast in their Catholicism.

The author then brings the matter back to whether the European Union should include any reference to God, let alone to Europe's Christian traditions:

The mostly secular nations of Europe, led by France, oppose such a mention. The pope, on the other hand, has lobbied for "a clear reference to God and the Christian faith." So far, the Church has been losing, but Karl's beatification is a sign that it hasn't given up. The Hapsburg name recalls the days when Europe was Christendom and Christendom was Europe.

We've talked and thought a lot, on this blog, about "religion in the public square", "public religion", and Christendom. While I tend to be disappointed -- if only for reasons of historical honesty -- by many prominent Europeans' reluctance to state the obvious, and while I tend to be (very) sympathetic with the Pope's concerns regarding the seeming loss of faith in Europe, I wonder if the Catholicism of the Hapsburgs is really the model for what we -- or the Pope -- would like to see Europe re-claim? Even if we think, during a particular period, the Empire's established Catholicism was important in protecting the Church itself, I don't think (and I don't think the Pope thinks) that it could serve as a template for the future.

So, what should a re-Christianized Europe -- a post, post-Christian Europe? -- look like, if we assume that it would and should not look like the Austria-Hungarian Empire?