Europe, at the beginning of the
new millennium, open once again your doors to Christ!
Taken from: VISIT TO THE ITALIAN PARLIAMENT (PALAZZO MONTECITORIO) ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II Thursday, 14 November 2002
"9. A self-confident and internally cohesive Italy can be a great enrichment for the other nations of Europe and the world. I wish to share this conviction with you at this time, when the institutional shape of the European Union is being defined and its expansion to include many countries of Central and Eastern Europe appears imminent, as it were sealing the end of an unnatural division. It is my hope that, thanks also to Italy's support, the new foundations of the European "common house" will not lack the "cement" of that extraordinary religious, cultural and civil patrimony which has given Europe its greatness down the centuries.
There is a need to guard against a vision of the Continent which would only take into account its economic and political aspects, or which would uncritically yield to lifestyles inspired by a consumerism indifferent to spiritual values. If lasting stability is to be given to the new unity of Europe, there must be a commitment to ensuring that it is supported on those ethical foundations which were once its basis, while at the same time making room for the richness and diversity of the cultures and traditions which characterize individual nations. In this noble Assembly I would like to renew the appeal which in recent years I have made to the various peoples of the Continent: "Europe, at the beginning of the new millennium, open once again your doors to Christ!""