On 9th May 1950 Robert Schuman (1886-1963) made the historic declaration that would form the foundation of the European Community. What is seldom appreciated is the remarkable degree to which Schuman's actions were the conscious implementation of the Neo-Thomistic project of Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903). Leo sought to employ the intellectual resources of St Thomas Aquinas to achieve the restoration, both in rulers and peoples, of the principles of the Christian life in civil and domestic society. The resolution of the Church's difficulties with the French Republic and republicanism generally was...