Strasbourg, 26/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday morning 25 November, Pope Francis addressed the European Parliament. This was followed by a visit to the Council of Europe (CoE), where representatives from the 47 member states of the institution were awaiting him, as well as judges from the European Court of Human Rights, several delegates and representatives from the different religions in Alsace, a region within secular France.
At both the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, the Pope avoided making any pastoral sermon, preferring to express political ideas, which were very marked in the first speech and less so in the second, which had a more philosophical substance and was described by some commentators as “less audacious” It is true that although his very firm ideas on Europe's lacklustre approach to tackling the problem of immigration upset some of the Conservatives at the European Parliament, the absence of any mention to the Ukrainian conflict during his address to the Council of Europe did not go unnoticed. There was certainly a very diplomatic silence explaining this because the Holy See is aware that a direct attack on Russia's policy, which is a member of the CoE, as is Ukraine, would have only got Vladimir Putin's back up, in a highly tense context involving the Duma's delegation in Strasbourg and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Since last April's suspension of some of Russia's rights, including its right to vote, in response to the annexation of the Crimea, Russia has not returned to the institution to take its seat. Throwing oil onto the fire in these circumstances would certainly not have been opportune, according to the Pope, whom we know would like to go to two of the major countries in the world where there has never ever been a papal visit organised, namely China and Russia.
Pope Francis only indirectly referred to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia by alluding to tensions in Europe and the fact that “the continent is only too easily falling prey to previous temptations”. This second speech was made in an institution founded on 5 May 1949 “after the most cruel and destructive conflict this land can remember and whose divisions continued over many long years”. The speech effectively focused on peace. This peace is being very sorely tested by these tensions but also, “by other forms of conflict, such as terrorism, both religious and international”, arms trafficking, “which the Church considers an extremely serious blight against humanity” and human trafficking, which could be considered as “the new slavery of our time”. All these things are also at the centre of the work carried out by the CoE, such as the cornerstone of defending human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
The Pope returned to the theme of the determination to develop reconciliation and to “never again” experience the horrors of the past. He said that this had been the basis for creating the CoE and the European Union (EU) and that it was only by adopting this approach that Europe could, “march forward to the future. He also called on it to have the courage, “not to hide from the current situation and its challenges”. He said Europe was “multipolar” and highlighted the tensions it was experiencing between the different cultural, religious and political poles. He said that it was up to Europe to “globalise this multipolarity in an original way” and therefore encouraged “more transversality” between these groups and the use of more “dialogue, even inter-generational”. The Pope said “we need a spirit of youth to accept this challenge” and positively welcomed “the determination of the Council of Europe to invest in intercultural dialogue, including its religious dimension”. In this sense, he proposed setting up, “a new Agora” as a platform for dialogue and exchange.
In this perspective, the Pope emphasised that Christianity could help support European cultural and social development “in an appropriate relationship between religion and society”. The Church can deliver an, “ethical reflection on human rights… the protection of human life, poverty, taking in migrants, unemployment and even environmental, within the perspective of social and economic cooperation, accompanied by economic conditions that are capable of confronting our globalised world”.
PACE President Anne Brasseur, from Luxembourg, immediately echoed these sentiments, “dialogue is more important than ever… because the walls erected in our minds are more serious than walls of concrete”. (VL)