Tue, 9 February 2010
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Luxembourg -- Luxembourg's Grand Duke Henri, widely seen as a modernizing figure but strongly attached to Roman Catholic values, is set to see his sovereign powers clipped in a furor over euthanasia.
The 53-year-old sovereign threw off his traditional political neutrality when he let it be known that, for "reasons of conscience," he would refuse to sign into law a bill adopted by parliament to legalize euthanasia.
In doing so, he triggered a proposed constitutional amendment -- swiftly promoted by Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker -- towards a purely formal Swedish style of monarchy in the small but wealthy duchy.
A fresh-faced father of five related to the Belgian and Swedish royal families, Grand Duke Henri has adopted a more modern style than his predecessors, building a strong bond with his people.
In this largely Catholic nation of 480,000 that boasts the highest per capita GDP of any EU member state, his stance against euthanasia is unlikely to upset that bond, even if it ends up trimming his powers.
A graduate of Britain's Sandhurst military academy and Geneva University, his strong adhesion to Catholic and family values is shared by his Cuban-born wife, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa.
"It is well-known that the grand duchess is close to the charismatic movement which has radical positions on matters such as euthanasia," said Liberal deputy Eugene Berger.
"And we know that the grand duchess has a great influence over the grand duke," added Berger, one of the few Luxembourg politicians to talk openly on the subject.
"I understand the grand duke's problems of conscience," Prime Minister Juncker said Tuesday when he announced plans to change the constitution so that the grand duke would merely sign laws into being, rather than approve them.
"But I believe that if the parliament votes in a law, it must be brought into force," he said.
Changing the constitution will require a two-thirds majority in parliament -- something that Juncker, 53, the longest-serving head of government in the European Union, is likely to have had assured before his announcement.
Good for the Grand Duke! Finally, someone in Western Europe (outside of the Vatican) with moral principals and conviction of faith to stand firm in the face of the atheistic culture of death.
Unless Europe accepts its past as Christendom, and once again embraces it fully, it will soon be swept away by the ongoing Islamic invasion. What the Ottoman Empire was unable to do against the Christian Monarchs of Europe for centuries, the flood of Muslim immigrants will do in less than 100 years.
In the meantime, most Europeans turn further from Christian values toward humanism (selfish self-indulgence, hedonism and more), abort themselves out of existence and engage in and normalize homosexual acts.
Unless there is a complete backlash against the Islamic invasion, I give Europe fifty years before it is under sharia law! Welcome to Europistan.
It is refreshing, even envigorating when some one takes an unpopular stand even though he may very well lose something because of it.
With more manly men like the Grand Duke Henri western civilization might just survive.
Modern democratic politicians are usually the heirs to the craven Pontius Pilate--if the people want to kill 'em, then I'll let them kill 'em. When one man can make the difference between civilization and barbarism, it's hard to find a real man who will stand up for civilization. Luxembourg has such a man, and he is their monarch.
God bless him and his wife, the Grand Duchess. The world needs more real heroes--not the kind with comic-book-style powers but with real moral courage. May God bless him for his shining example in this.
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