Scottish Catholic Observer

The Pope was speaking to an audience including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Premier Matteo Renzi and Spain’s King Felipe VI after receiving the Charlemagne Prize, for his contribution to European unity.

“I dream of a Europe that promotes and protects the rights of everyone, without neglecting its duties toward all,” the Pope said. “I dream of a Europe of which it will not be said that its commitment to human rights was its last utopia.”

Echoing the famous ‘I have a dream’ speech by US civil rights leader Martin Luther King, the Holy Father offered his vision of a Europe that cares for children, the elderly, the poor and the infirm, as well as ‘those newcomers seeking acceptance because they have lost everything and need shelter.’

Although his message was hopeful the Pope acknowledged the continent faced serious problems. He noted youth unemployment was sapping the continent of its dynamism, and he called for new economic models that are ‘more inclusive and equitable’.

“There is an impression that Europe is declining, that it has lost its ability to be innovative and creative, that it is more concerned with preserving and dominating spaces than with generating processes of inclusions and change,” he said.

He urged Europeans to undergo a ‘memory transfusion,’ citing a phrase by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, to remember Europe’s fractured past when confronting issues that threaten again to divide it.

“A memory transfusion can free us from today’s temptation to build hastily on the shifting stands of immediate results, which may produce quick and easy short-term political gains, but do not enhance human fulfillment,” he said.

The Pope said the Catholic Church could play a role in the rebirth of a Europe that was weary, yet still rich in energies and possibilities.

Before the ceremony in the frescoed Sala Regia, the Pope met privately with Angela Merkel, as well as with European Parliament President Martin Schulz, a previous Charlemagne Prize recipient, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Junker and EU Council President Donald Tusk, who also attended the ceremony.

Mr Junker, in his remarks, praised the Pope for taking three Syrian refugee families to Rome with him at the end of his recent visit to Greece.

“When you take in 12 refugees, in proportion to the population of the Vatican that is more than any EU member state — you fill our hearts with new courage,” Mr Junker said.

The Charlemagne Prize, consisting of a medal and a citation, is awarded annually by the German city of Aachen for contributions to European unity. Previous winners include former US President Bill Clinton and St John Paul II, who received a special edition of the prize in 2004. The prize is normally given in Aachen but was transferred to the Vatican for the Pope’s convenience.