Pope Francis pleaded to revive the original idea of the EU project as ideologies and fear-mongering politicians threaten the existence of the Union. “If Europe does not look carefully to future challenges, Europe will dry up. Europe is ceasing to be ‘Mother Europe’ and is becoming ‘Grandmother Europe’. It has aged. It has lost the goal of working together,” said Pope in a news conference on the flight from Romania, when he was asked about the European parliamentary elections. Pope has not directly commented on the situation in Italy and the landslide victory of Matteo Salvini, Italian far-right leader, in the latest Europe-wide ballot.
“We have to help politicians to be honest. They should not carry out (political) campaigns under dishonest banners, with calumny, defamation, scandals,” he said, stressing that his comments should be taken generally as it is nearly impossible for him to understand Italian politics. “Please let’s not let Europe be overcome by pessimism or by ideologies because Europe is not being attacked by canons or bombs in this moment, but by ideologies – ideologies that are not European, that come either from outside or which stem from small groups in Europe,” he said.
Pope Francis also urged people to overcome divisions and borders and remember the message of the EU’s founding idea. He visited Romania over the past weekend for the first time since John Paul II’s visit 20 years ago. While the main message urged people to seek common good over personal interests, he also apologized and asked for forgiveness for mistreatment, segregation, and discrimination of Roma people and warned against a similar kind of discrimination against migrants.
