VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 208   
   DATE 25-11-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - Francis prays for the intercession of the Virgin for his trip to Strasbourg   
   - The Pope to the European Parliament: dignity and transcendence, key concepts   
   for the future of Europe   
   - Francis at the Council of Europe: imposed peace is not enough - it must be   
   loved, free and fraternal   
   - The Pope receives the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt   
   - The Pope to convoke a conference in Haiti in January 2015, five years after   
   the earthquake that devastated the island   
   - Audiences   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Francis prays for the intercession of the Virgin for his trip to Strasbourg   
    Vatican City, 25 November 2014 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon, as is his custom   
   before a journey, at around 5.30 the Holy Father went to the Basilica of St.   
   Mary Major to pray before the image of the Virgin Salus Popoli Romani and to   
   ask for her intercession for his apostolic trip to the European institutions   
   based in Strasbourg. Francis prayed for around half an hour and left before   
   the Virgin a floral tribute in blue and yellow, the colours of the European   
   flag.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope to the European Parliament: dignity and transcendence, key concepts   
   for the future of Europe   
    Vatican City, 25 November 2014 (VIS) - Europe's future depends on the   
   rediscovery of the vital and indissoluble nexus between dignity and   
   transcendence, as otherwise it risks slowly losing its soul and the humanistic   
   spirit that loves and defends. This was Pope Francis' message to the members   
   of the European Parliament during his visit to the legislative body of the   
   European Union (EU) in Strasbourg: it is the only international organisation   
   directly elected by 508 million citizens, and composed of 751 deputies elected   
   in the 28 member states of the EU.   
    The Holy Father left Rome by air shortly before 8 a.m. and arrived in   
   Strasbourg in 10 a.m., where he was greeted by the French Minister of State   
   for European Affairs, two deputy presidents, various representatives of the   
   civil authorities, including the mayor of Strasbourg, Roland Ries, and local   
   ecclesiastical figures. Pope Francis then travelled by car to the seat of the   
   Parliament where he was received by President Martin Schulz and, following   
   presentations by the two delegations of the 14 members of the Bureau of the   
   Parliament and the 8 presidents of the political groups of the Assembly, he   
   signed the Gold Book of the Parliament with the following phrase: "I hope that   
   the European Parliament is always the place where each member contributes to   
   ensure that Europe, mindful of her past, looks with confidence to the future   
   to live with hope in the present".   
    After attending the Solemn Session of the Parliament and listening to the   
   speech by President Schulz, Pope Francis addressed the Assembly, recalling   
   that his visit takes place over a quarter of a century after that of Pope John   
   Paul II, and many things have changed in Europe and throughout the world in   
   the intervening period. "The opposing blocs which then divided the continent   
   in two no longer exist, and gradually the hope is being realised that 'Europe,   
   endowed with sovereign and free institutions, will one day reach the full   
   dimensions that geography, and even more, history have given it'. As the   
   European Union has expanded, the world itself has become more complex and ever   
   changing; increasingly interconnected and global, it has, as a consequence,   
   become less and less 'Eurocentric'. Despite a larger and stronger Union,   
   Europe seems to give the impression of being somewhat elderly and haggard,   
   feeling less and less a protagonist in a world which frequently regards it   
   with aloofness, mistrust and even, at times, suspicion.   
    "In addressing you today, I would like, as a pastor, to offer a message of   
   hope and encouragement to all the citizens of Europe. It is a message of hope,   
   based on the confidence that our problems can become powerful forces for unity   
   in working to overcome all those fears which Europe - together with the entire   
   world - is presently experiencing. It is a message of hope in the Lord, who   
   turns evil into good and death into life. It is a message of encouragement to   
   return to the firm conviction of the founders of the European Union, who   
   envisioned a future based on the capacity to work together in bridging   
   divisions and in fostering peace and fellowship between all the peoples of   
   this continent. At the heart of this ambitious political project was   
   confidence in man, not so much as a citizen or an economic agent, but in man,   
   in men and women as persons endowed with transcendent dignity".   
    The Pope stressed the close bond between these two words: "dignity" and   
   "transcendent".   
    "'Dignity' was the pivotal concept in the process of rebuilding which   
   followed the Second World War", he affirmed. "Our recent past has been marked   
   by the concern to protect human dignity, in contrast to the manifold instances   
   of violence and discrimination which, even in Europe, took place in the course   
   of the centuries. Recognition of the importance of human rights came about as   
   the result of a lengthy process, entailing much suffering and sacrifice, which   
   helped shape an awareness of the unique worth of each individual human person.   
   This awareness was grounded not only in historical events, but above all in   
   European thought, characterised as it is by an enriching encounter whose   
   'distant springs are many, coming from Greece and Rome, from Celtic, Germanic   
   and Slavic sources, and from Christianity which profoundly shaped them', thus   
   forging the very concept of the 'person'.   
    "Today, the promotion of human rights is central to the commitment of the   
   European Union to advance the dignity of the person, both within the Union and   
   in its relations with other countries. This is an important and praiseworthy   
   commitment, since there are still too many situations in which human beings   
   are treated as objects whose conception, configuration and utility can be   
   programmed, and who can then be discarded when no longer useful, due to   
   weakness, illness or old age".   
    Promoting the dignity of the person, he continued, "means recognising that he   
   or she possesses inalienable rights which no one may take away arbitrarily,   
   much less for the sake of economic interests", yet "care must be taken not to   
   fall into certain errors which can arise from a misunderstanding of the   
   concept of human rights and from its misuse. Today there is a tendency to   
   claim ever broader individual rights; underlying this is a conception of the   
   human person as detached from all social and anthropological contexts. ... The   
   equally essential and complementary concept of duty no longer seems to be   
   linked to such a concept of rights. As a result, the rights of the individual   
   are upheld, without regard for the fact that each human being is part of a   
   social context wherein his or her rights and duties are bound up with those of   
   others and with the common good of society itself".   
    The Pontiff emphasised, "I believe, therefore, that it is vital to develop a   
   culture of human rights which wisely links the individual, or better, the   
   personal aspect, to that of the common good, of the ‘all of us' made up of   
   individuals, families and intermediate groups who together constitute society.   
   ... To speak of transcendent human dignity thus means appealing to human   
   nature, to our innate capacity to distinguish good from evil, to that   
   'compass' deep within our hearts, which God has impressed upon all creation.   
   Above all, it means regarding human beings not as absolutes, but as beings in   
   relation. In my view, one of the most common diseases in Europe today is the   
   loneliness typical of those who have no connection with others. This is   
   especially true of the elderly, who are often abandoned to their fate, and   
   also in the young who lack clear points of reference and opportunities for the   
   future. It is also seen in the many poor who dwell in our cities and in the   
   disorientation of immigrants who came here seeking a better future".   
    This loneliness, he remarked, "has become more acute as a result of the   
   economic crisis, whose effects continue to have tragic consequences for the   
   life of society. In recent years, as the European Union has expanded, there   
   has been growing mistrust on the part of citizens towards institutions   
   considered to be aloof, engaged in laying down rules perceived as insensitive   
   to individual peoples, if not downright harmful. In many quarters we encounter   
   a general impression of weariness and ageing, of a Europe which is ... no   
   longer fertile and vibrant. As a result, the great ideas which once inspired   
   Europe seem to have lost their attraction, only to be replaced by the   
   bureaucratic technicalities of its institutions. Together with this, we   
   encounter certain rather selfish lifestyles, marked by an opulence which is no   
   longer sustainable and frequently indifferent to the world around us, and   
   especially to the poorest of the poor. To our dismay we see technical and   
   economic questions dominating political debate, to the detriment of genuine   
   concern for human beings. Men and women risk being reduced to mere cogs in a   
   machine that treats them as items of consumption to be exploited, with the   
   result that - as is so tragically apparent - whenever a human life no longer   
   proves useful for that machine, it is discarded with few qualms, as in the   
   case of the terminally ill, the elderly who are abandoned and uncared for, and   
   children who are killed in the womb. This is the great mistake made 'when   
   technology is allowed to take over'; the result is a confusion between ends   
   and means. It is the inevitable consequence of a 'throwaway culture' and an   
   uncontrolled consumerism".   
    Francis reminded the members of parliament that they are called to a great   
   mission which may however appear impossible: tending to the needs of   
   individuals and peoples. "To care for individuals and peoples in need means   
   protecting memory and hope; it means taking responsibility for the present   
   with its situations of utter marginalisation and anguish, and being capable of   
   bestowing dignity upon it. How, then, can hope in the future be restored, so   
   that, beginning with the younger generation, there can be a rediscovery of   
   that confidence needed to pursue the great ideal of a united and peaceful   
   Europe, a Europe which is creative and resourceful, respectful of rights and   
   conscious of its duties?"   
    To answer this question, the Pope referred to Raphael's celebrated fresco of   
   the "School of Athens", found in the Vatican. "Plato and Aristotle are in the   
   centre. Plato's finger is pointed upward, to the world of ideas, to the sky,   
   to heaven as we might say. Aristotle holds his hand out before him, towards   
   the viewer, towards the world, concrete reality. This strikes me as a very apt   
   image of Europe and her history, made up of the constant interplay between   
   heaven and earth, where the sky suggests that openness to the transcendent -   
   to God - which has always distinguished the peoples of Europe, while the earth   
   represents Europe's practical and concrete ability to confront situations and   
   problems. The future of Europe depends on the recovery of the vital connection   
   between these two elements. A Europe which is no longer open to the   
   transcendent dimension of life is a Europe which risks slowly losing its own   
   soul and that 'humanistic spirit' which it still loves and defends. ... I   
   consider to be fundamental not only the legacy that Christianity has offered   
   in the past to the social and cultural formation of the continent, but above   
   all the contribution which it desires to offer today, and in the future, to   
   Europe's growth. This contribution does not represent a threat to the   
   secularity of states or to the independence of the institutions of the   
   European Union, but rather an enrichment. This is clear from the ideals which   
   shaped Europe from the beginning, such as peace, subsidiarity and reciprocal   
   solidarity, and a humanism centred on respect for the dignity of the human   
   person".   
    Pope Francis went on to reiterate the readiness of the Holy See and the   
   Catholic Church, through the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe   
   (COMECE), to engage in "meaningful, open and transparent dialogue with the   
   institutions of the European Union. I am likewise convinced that a Europe   
   which is capable of appreciating its religious roots and of grasping their   
   fruitfulness and potential, will be all the more immune to the many forms of   
   extremism spreading in the world today, not least as a result of the great   
   vacuum of ideals which we are currently witnessing in the West, since 'it is   
   precisely man's forgetfulness of God, and his failure to give him glory, which   
   gives rise to violence'. Here I cannot fail to recall the many instances of   
   injustice and persecution which daily afflict religious minorities, and   
   Christians in particular, in various parts of our world. Communities and   
   individuals today find themselves subjected to barbaric acts of violence: they   
   are evicted from their homes and native lands, sold as slaves, killed,   
   beheaded, crucified or burned alive, under the shameful and complicit silence   
   of so many.   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)