Brussels, 09/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - In the vibrant plea for European integration he made when receiving the Charlemagne Prize on Friday 6 May, Pope Francis called upon the Europeans to return to “that de facto solidarity, the same concrete generosity” which guided the founding fathers of the EU, whilst at the same time building a new European humanism.
“What has happened to you?” Pope Francis asked several times, questioning the Europe of today which gives into “our own selfish interests” and which is happy to settle for a few cosmetic re-touches or flawed compromises to amend a few treaties. The Presidents of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, and of the European Council, Donald Tusk, who attended the ceremony at the Vatican for this prize, which has been awarded since 1950 to individuals who have spoken out in favour of European unification, heard Pope Francis' concerns at the state of Europe, the situation of its young people and that of the migrants. However, they also heard his words of faith and trust that this “dear continent” will be capable of “giving birth to a new humanism based on three ideas: the capacity to integrate, have dialogue, and 'generate'”.
These three capacities will help the Europeans to face the immediate challenges. “Integrate”, here, means rejecting the exclusion which “leads to cowardice, narrowness and brutality” in favour of a “strong cultural integration”, whilst bearing in mind that “Europe has always had a dynamic and multicultural identity”. “Have dialogue” means the ability to show the Other, currently personified in the person of the migrant, that Europe is capable of seeing him as “worthy of being listened to, considered and appreciated”. By the term “generate”, Pope Francis finally sought to mobilise all Europeans, particularly young people, to invest in the European project, as “agents of change and transformation”.
On top of this comes a final capacity, which has been forgotten by many Europeans, but which was once central to the European project. Today, Europe will not be able to meet all of these challenges unless it decides to move “from a liquid economy”, which is corruptive and based on profit and speculation, to a “social economy”. This society will “allow us once again to dream of the humanism of which Europe was the cradle and the source”, the Sovereign Pontiff concluded. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)