Pope Benedict XVI Blog

EU weakens own identity by ignoring Christianity, warns Pope

26.03.2007 - 09:29 CET | By Lucia Kubosova

EUOBSERVER / ROME - Pope Benedict XVI has criticised EU leaders for ignoring Christianity in their reflections over the union's 50th birthday and warned about demographic trends that put Europe's future at risk.

Speaking to European bishops gathered in Rome and Vatican over the weekend (22-24 March) to mark the 50th anniversary of the signature of the EU's founding treaties, the head of the Catholic Church suggested Europe was doubting its identity by committing a "form of apostasy of itself".

"If on the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome the governments of the Union want to get closer to their citizens, how can they exclude an element as essential to the identity of Europe as Christianity, in which the vast majority of its people continue to identify?" he asked.

"It is no surprise that today's Europe, while it purports to be a community of values, seems to increasingly contest the existence of absolute and universal values," he said, adding that a union that fails to respect "the true dignity of the human being, forgetting that each person is created in the image of God, ends up doing good for no one."
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 4:22 PM