Pope Calls Europe ‘Elderly and Haggard,’ Calls on EU to Keep ‘Democracy Alive’

neneos/iStock Editorial/Thinkstock(STRASBOURG, France) — Pope Francis addressed the European Union on Tuesday morning, urging the leaders of nations representing “more than 500 million citizens” to “[keep] democracy alive.”

Calling Europe “elderly and haggard…less and less a protagonist in a world which frequently regards it with aloofness, mistrust and even, at times, suspicion,” Pope Francis aimed “to offer a message of hope and encouragement to all the citizens of Europe.”

Francis touched on a multitude of subjects, ranging from human rights to the economy, from education to the environment.

“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,” the pope said.

Francis noted the EU motto, “United in Diversity,” saying that in truth, “unity…does not mean uniformity of political, economic and cultural life, or ways of thinking.” Instead, he said that he views Europe “like a family…which is all the more united when each of its members is free to be fully himself or herself.”

“Dear Members of the European Parliament,” Pope Francis concluded, “the time has come to work together in building a Europe which revolves not around the economy, but around the sacredness of the human person, around inalienable values. In building a Europe which courageously embraces its past and confidently looks to its future in order fully to experience the hope of its present. The time has come for us to abandon the idea of a Europe which is fearful and self-absorbed, in order to revive and encourage a Europe of leadership, a repository of science, art, music, human values and faith as well.”

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