Risks and promises of pluralism

This article by Olivier Clément, drawn from research conducted within the framework of the Council of Europe, examines the question of religious and cultural pluralism in contemporary Europe. The study adopts a historical, theological, and ethical approach. Clément first traces the historical forms of European pluralism, from multinational empires to the Enlightenment, before identifying three major risks: identity crises, communitarianism, and syncretic indifference. He then analyzes the resources that the Gospel and the Orthodox patristic tradition offer for grounding an authentic pluralism, rooted in the Trinitarian theology of communion and in the notion of the person. The principal theological contribution lies in the distinction between passive tolerance and active recognition of the other, articulated within an ecclesiology that invites the Churches to renounce any use of state power in order to bear witness freely within a civilization that is simultaneously global and plural.