A part of the main?

As long ago as 1632 John Donne was onto something: ‘No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were……..’

With astonishing prescience he could have been describing the motivation of the founders of the European project more than 300 years later.

Relationships matter, whether between individuals, or communities, or countries. We’re stronger together. We’re all in this together.

‘This’ for present purposes, is a group of 28 European countries, all very different but united by shared values, interests and aspirations. This resonates strongly with Christian Aid: relationships, based on God’s love for all creation, are key to our theology and our practice. Collaborating with others achieves so much more.

The world increasingly operates in groupings of states, formal and informal. There’s a spoken and unspoken assumption that cooperation is better for everyone than isolation.

The EU, from its earliest incarnations, was established precisely to bring countries together to ensure a peaceful future, after the horrors of two world wars. Sharing some sovereignty in the cause of a common and great good was deemed a worthwhile sacrifice.

One of our founders, George Bell, Bishop of Chichester, highlighted in a Lords debate in 1944 the churches’ potential to ‘help to restore the foundations of European life and bring new hope and life to the nations in which they minister’. They recognised that no man was an island; Christian Aid was part of their response.

The peace to which so many people of all faiths and none across Europe aspired was underpinned by shared values. I suggest these included forgiveness, reconciliation, being willing to move forward. Respect for others, despite differences, was crucial, as was a willingness to put the interests of others above one’s own. The recognition that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts, a willingness to work together for the greater good, was the glue holding it together.

Fast forward to today.That original vision of ‘a common and great good’ remains just as valid, as do the values, but the context in which they play out is ever more complex.

The Greek euro crisis, and the vast scale of the human tragedy of refugees and other migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean, are only two examples of the new and profound challenge we in Europe face: how, in this new world, do we live out those foundational values. How can we apply Donne’s insight in this new environment?

Much has already changed, and may yet change further, in how we cooperate, but the principle of cooperation as opposed to isolation will remain fundamental: indeed no man (or woman) is an island. To quote George Bell again, ‘something deeper than a political impulse is required to secure lasting unity’.

About the author

Loretta Minghella joined Christian Aid as the Chief Executive in 2010. She is a lawyer by training who, after practising as a criminal litigator, began a career in financial regulation in 1990. The first Head of Enforcement Law, Policy and International Co-operation for the Financial Services Authority, she also chaired the International Organisation of Securities Commissions’ Standing Committee on Enforcement and Information-Sharing. In 2004, Loretta became Chief Executive of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, in which capacity she oversaw the payment of over £21bn in compensation to victims of bank and other financial failures. In recognition of her contribution in that role, she was awarded the OBE in the New Year’s Honours 2010.