RUSSELS, Feb. 4 — In the colorless conference rooms of the European Union's headquarters here, where discussions often center on farm subsidies and budget deficits, a small group of politicians will meet on Wednesday to discuss God.
The 11 men and 2 women, several of them former prime ministers, will debate whether or not the European Union's future constitution, currently being drafted section-by-section, should include a reference to the divine.
On a continent where church attendance is a fraction of American levels and where invocations of God, common in political speeches in the United States, are rare, the task is a tricky one.
Although most of the European Continent commonly celebrates religious holidays as national days off, references to religion, according to many ardent European secularists, do not belong in classrooms or government offices, much less the highest legal text of the land.
The committee must sift through proposals that describe Europe's "spiritual heritage" and "God as the source of truth." They are then expected to draft a text that will form the basis of Article 2 of the future constitution, a paragraph reserved for a statement of European "values."
The debate is of keen interest to the Roman Catholic Church, which has lobbied for a reference to God, as well as organizations of Jews, Muslims and Protestants, who until now have been more muted in their opinions on the matter.
Supporters of a reference to God include delegates from Poland, Italy, Germany and Slovakia, some of whom have proposed the following text, "The union values include the values of those who believe in God as the source of truth, justice, good and beauty as well as of those who do not share such a belief but respect these universal values arising from other sources."
Opponents of the wording — many of whom say it would make a dangerous distinction between believers and nonbelievers — include delegates from France, the Netherlands, Spain and the Nordic countries.
The "God issue" is described by delegates as one of the most controversial at the convention.
Among some French delegates, a reference to God is seen as a throwback to the past and a breach of the sacred principle of a clear separation of Church and state that keeps religion out of politics.
But in Poland, a heavily Roman Catholic country where the church kept national aspirations alive under the Communist system and the government installed a crucifix in Parliament after that system crumbled, a reference to God in the European constitution would serve as a tribute to the church's role of resistance during Poland's decades as a Soviet satellite.
In Spain, a reference to God evokes the years under Franco, where coins were stamped with the dictator's profile, ringed by the words "Leader of Spain by the grace of God."
"Religion is a private matter," said Ana Palacio, Spain's foreign minister, who is also a member of the presidium. "Our identity is the fight for democracy, for human rights, for the separation between church and state. The only banner that we have is secularism."
Other, more down-to-earth issues debated at the convention have tended to separate countries into camps: small countries against big ones, federalists against confederalists, northern countries against southern ones. But delegates say the God question blurs alliances and defies geographical boundaries.
Debates about God are unfamiliar terrain for the European Union, which came together a half-century ago with the specific priority of cooperating in coal and steel production. Today, delegates who are more accustomed to arguing about milk quotas sometimes find the debate about God uncomfortable.
"I think there's an embarrassment to admitting to religious belief in our modern culture," said John Bruton, a former Irish prime minister and a member of the presidium.
Mr. Bruton said he supported the text that speaks of God as a "source of truth" because it would apply, he said, to the three major monotheistic religions in Europe.
