Pope: EU needs new vigour and passion
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis told Europe’s leaders that the continent faced a “vacuum of values” as they marked the EU’s 60th birthday, condemning anti-immigrant populism and extremism that he said posed a mortal threat to the bloc.
Prime ministers and presidents from 27 EU member states have descended on Italy to mark the 1957 founding Treaty of Rome, receiving a papal blessing on the eve of the anniversary.
However, celebrations have been tempered by a string of crises, including prolonged economic turmoil, an influx of migrants and Britain’s decision to leave the bloc, that have raised fears for the future of the union.
“When a body loses its sense of direction and is no longer able to look ahead, it experiences a regression and, in the long run, risks dying,” Francis told the leaders gathered in an ornate, frescoed chamber in the heart of the Vatican.
Just six nations signed the original treaty in 1957 and on many levels the EU can be viewed as a success, swelling to embrace 28 countries gathered in the world’s largest trading bloc and blessed with rising life expectancy and solid prosperity.
But with anti-European parties gaining support, the pope warned of a growing split between EU citizens and their institutions and said greater solidarity was the “most effective antidote to modern forms of populism”.
The Argentinian-born pontiff told the leaders that they needed to pro- mote Europe’s “patrimony of ideals and spiritual values” with greater passion and vigour.
“For it is the best antidote against the vacuum of values of our time, which provides a fertile terrain for every form of extremism,” he said, mentioning the attack in London this week by a British-born convert to Islam, who killed four people.
The pope urged the continent not to close in on itself and resurrect walls, a message aimed as much at US President Donald Trump as at EU leaders struggling to deal with mass immigration.