Europe, Christianity, and the Thought of Christopher
DawsonGERALD RUSSELLO A European Constitution that lacks any
reference to the continent's Christian roots would be a sign of
a dangerous historical blindness, warns a devotee of Catholic
historian Christopher Dawson. an Englishman who strongly
believed in the importance of religion's influence on society,
wrote in 1938: "A society which has lost its religion becomes
sooner or later a society which has lost its culture." Here, the
editor of Christianity and European Culture: Selections from the
Work of Christopher Dawson (CUA Press), Gerald Russello, shared
his ideas with ZENIT on the modern importance of Dawson's
thought. Russello is an attorney in New York. What is the
relevance of the thought of Christopher Dawson today? Russello:
Christopher Dawson remains the most important Catholic historian
of the 20th century. The contemporary value of his work is in
his recognition of the abiding importance and influence of
religious belief, and its enduring ability