Cardinal Duka: Central Europe is our home

Cardinal Dominik Duka, who died early yesterday at the age of 82, stressed in his addresses to the St. Adalbert Conferences, which promote greater regional cooperation, that it was a deep spiritual dedication that shaped Central Europe. Prague has played a role in creating this spirit, he said, including the way Václav Havel co-inspired the Visegrad Four. We can't precisely define the boundaries of Central Europe, Duka said, but it is where we feel at home. When he landed in Cologne decades ago on his way back from his first-ever trip to the U.S., he said, he didn't feel at home. But he did when he continued on to Munich, where everything but the language seemed the same. And in Vienna, he said, he understood that it was, or is, our capital. Central Europe is our home, he concluded: It is our destiny, our culture, where our spiritual roots are and where we know what democracy means. A democracy, he said, that shows respect for others, does not lack friendship and has a spiritual dimension.