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Europe’s era of philosophy and “great ideas” has been replaced by the "bureaucratic technicalities” of European Union institutions, Pope Francis has warned.
In a speech that was highly critical of contemporary political culture, the Pope told the European Parliament that the EU was in danger of being seen as “downright harmful” to Europe’s peoples.
“In recent years, as the EU 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,” he told MEPs.
“The great ideas which once inspired Europe seem to have lost their attraction, only to be replaced by the bureaucratic technicalities of its institutions.”
During a whistle-stop tour to Strasbourg, the French second seat of the EU assembly, the Pope criticised a continent that is “less and less a protagonist” in a world that regards Europe “somewhat elderly and haggard”.
As the first pontiff from the new world - Argentina - and the first non-European to hold the office for almost 1,300 years, Pope Francis has broken with the Roman Catholic Church’s traditionally unconditional support for the EU.
The last Pope to address MEPs was John Paul II in 1988 and, also speaking in Strasbourg 26 years ago, the Polish pontiff lavished praise on the EU as "a beacon of civilisation” as the Soviet and Cold War order crumbled in Europe.
Almost a generation later, the current Pope warned that democracy needed to be defended, using words that implied criticism of the unpopular "uniformity" of eurozone policies that dictate public spending levels for countries in the EU’s single currency, such as Italy.
“It is no secret that a conception of unity seen as uniformity strikes at the vitality of the democratic system, weakening the rich, fruitful and constructive interplay of organisations and political parties,” he said.
“This leads to the risk of living in a world of ideas, of mere words, of images, of sophistry and to end up confusing the reality of democracy with a new political nominalism.”
Using words that could equally be addressed to multinational corporations or powerful EU institutions such as the European Central Bank, Pope Francis described democracy as being at risk from “unseen empires”.
“The true strength of our democracies – understood as expressions of the political will of the people – must not be allowed to collapse under the pressure of multinational interests which are not universal, which weaken them and turn them into uniform systems of economic power at the service of unseen empires,” he said.
“This is one of the challenges which history sets before you today.”
The Pope also linked out of touch and remote EU institutions to an existential “loneliness” for Europeans who treated others, or are themselves treated by others, as objects
“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,” he said.
“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 has become more acute as a result of the economic crisis, whose effects continue to have tragic consequences for the life of society.”
In an attack on the West’s “throwaway culture”, the Latin-American Pope decried European selfishness combined indifference “especially to the poorest of the poor” and immigrants
“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,” he said.
"There needs to be a united response to the question of migration. We cannot allow the Mediterranean to become a vast cemetry. The boast landing on the shores of Europe are filled with men and women who need acceptance and assistance."
In a final appeal for the “humanistic spirit”, Pope Francis urged increasingly secular Europeans not to forget the two-thousand-year-old history linking Europe and Christianity.
“We see this in the beauty of our cities, and even more in the beauty of the many works of charity and constructive cooperation throughout this continent,” he said.
“This history, in large part, must still be written. It is our present and our future. It is our identity. Europe urgently needs to recover its true features in order to grow, as its founders intended, in peace and harmony, since it is not yet free of conflicts.”
The four-hour trip to the parliament on Tuesday is the shortest visit abroad made by any Pope. His first European visit in September was to Albania.
More read : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/the-pope/11252345/Pope-Francis-warns-European-ideal-replaced-by-bureaucratic-technicalities-of-EU.html
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