Address by HH Pope Francis to the European Parliament in formal sitting.

statement

Strasbourg

visit

EU - Holy See (T)

VEIL, Simone (LDR, FR)

SCHULZ, Martin (S&D, DE)

formal sitting

FRANCIS (AR, Pope)

(7) Visit of HH Pope Francis to the European Parliament: address to the European Parliament in formal sitting (11:22 - 11:30)

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Pope FRANCIS, Mr President and Vice Presidents, Members of the European Parliament,All associated with the work of this Institution, Dear Friends, I thank you for inviting me to address this institution which is fundamental to the life of the European Union, and for giving me this opportunity to speak, through you, to the more than five-hundred million citizens whom you represent in the twenty-eight Member States. I am especially grateful to you, Mr President, for your warm words of welcome in the name of the entire assembly.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Pope FRANCIS, My visit comes more than a quarter of a century after that of Pope John Paul II. Since then, much has changed throughout Europe and the world as a whole. The opposing blocs which then divided the continent in two no longer exist, and gradually the hope is being realized that &ldquo;Europe, endowed with sovereign and free institutions, will one day reach the full dimensions that geography, and even more, history have given it&rdquo;. 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 &ldquo;Eurocentric&rdquo;. 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.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Pope FRANCIS, 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 &ndash; together with the entire world &ndash; 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.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Pope FRANCIS, I feel bound to stress the close bond between these two words: &ldquo;dignity&rdquo; and &ldquo;transcendent&rdquo;. &ldquo;Dignity&rdquo; was a pivotal concept in the process of rebuilding which followed the Second World War. 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, characterized as it is by an enriching encounter whose &ldquo;distant springs are many, coming from Greece and Rome, from Celtic, Germanic and Slavic sources, and from Christianity which profoundly shaped them&rdquo;, thus forging the very concept of the &ldquo;person&rdquo;.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Pope FRANCIS, 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. In the end, what kind of dignity is there without the possibility of freely expressing one&rsquo;s thought or professing one&rsquo;s religious faith? What dignity can there be without a clear juridical framework which limits the rule of force and enables the rule of law to prevail over the power of tyranny? What dignity can men and women ever enjoy if they are subjected to all types of discrimination? What dignity can a person ever hope to find when he or she lacks food and the bare essentials for survival and, worse yet, when they lack the work which confers dignity? Promoting the dignity of the person means recognizing that he or she possesses inalienable rights which no one may take away arbitrarily, much less for the sake of economic interests.