LUXEMBROUG – On a brief day stop in Luxembourg Thursday, Pope Francis appealed for peace and the integration of migrants as Europe continues to reel from the war in Ukraine and an ongoing migrant crisis.
The pontiff was in Luxembourg as part of a Sept. 26-29 trip which will also take him to Belgium.
Speaking to national authorities and members of the diplomatic corps in Luxembourg, Pope Francis said the country “can show everyone the advantages of peace as opposed to the horrors of war.”
It can be an example of “the integration and promotion of migrants as opposed to their segregation, the benefits of cooperation between nations as opposed to the harmful consequences of hardening positions and the selfish and short-sighted or even violent pursuit of one’s own interest,” he said.
Francis spoke after holding private meetings with Luxembourg Grand Duke Henri and Prime Minister Luc Frieden. He is currently on a Sept. 26-29 visit to Luxembourg and Belgium.
Frieden said the pope is visiting one of three capitals of the European Union, making Luxembourg “a crossroads of choice for many Europeans.”
Luxembourg, he said, “is a country deeply committed to the principles of international law and a country whose history has been strongly influenced by Judeo-Christian traditions and values.”
He made an appeal for peace, love of neighbor and human dignity, “which is common to all religions and to which all human beings, whether believers or not, should aspire.”
Frieden spoke of the importance of freedom of conscience and religious freedom, as well as the freedom “not to have any religion imposed upon one.”
“While the relations between Church and State have evolved toward a clearer separation, and while the secularization of our societies cannot be disputed, religions do not exist outside the bounds of society either,” he said.
Religions, he said, are a part of society and must contribute to it, especially in debate over ethical and environmental issues.
After his meeting with authorities, Pope Francis was slated to meet with members of the Catholic community in Luxembourg Thursday afternoon before making his way to Belgium.
During the flight, Pope Francis came to the back of the plane to greet journalists as usual, saying, “thank you for your service” and, “I am at your disposal.” However, he did not greet the journalists individually as is customary, saying, “I don’t feel up to the ‘trip’”, referring to his passage up and down the aisle where the journalists were seated.
Francis, 87, is recovering from a cold that forced him to cancel his scheduled appointments on Monday. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope has skipped the traditional greeting before on short flights, including his flight to Strasbourg in 2014.
It is believed, however, that this was the first time Pope Francis has skipped the greeting due to an apparent lack of energy and stamina.
As for Luxembourg, it’s a representative democracy headed by a constitutional monarch, making it the world’s only remaining sovereign grand duchy.
Pope Francis noted that since the end of the Second World War, Luxembourg has dedicated itself to building “a united and fraternal Europe” where each country has a role, and where “divisions, quarrels and wars that have been caused by exaggerated forms of nationalism and pernicious ideologies may finally be left behind.”
He also invoked Luxembourg’s role in being a potential regional actor for peace, saying “areas on the border” of conflicts are often drawn in “heavily against their will,” but are also best positioned “for identifying the needs of a new era of peace and the paths to follow.”
To this end, the pope noted that Luxembourg was a founding member of the European Union, and that it is home to several European institutions, including the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Court of Auditors, and the European Investment Bank.
Francis lauded Luxembourg as a place “which cherishes the dignity of the human person and the defense of fundamental freedoms.”
Despite a population of just 661,600, Francis said Luxembourg can play a crucial international role in promoting fairness and the rule of law, as well as in placing the person and the common good at the center of national interests while acting against discrimination and exclusion.
He called for “the establishment of fraternal relations between peoples, so that all may become participants and protagonists in an organized process of integral development.”
In this regard, he repeated his frequent calls for care of the environment and the promotion of human fraternity, asking for “constant vigilance so that the most disadvantaged nations will not be neglected,” but rather helped “to rise from their impoverished conditions.”
“This is one way to ensure a decease in the number of those forced to emigrate, often in inhumane and dangerous conditions,” he said, saying Luxembourg, due to its geographic location and national history, can be an example “in pointing the way forward in welcoming and integrating migrants and refugees.”
In a reference to the ongoing war in Ukraine, Pope Francis lamented that Europe is currently witnessing the re-emergence of “rifts and enmities that, instead of being resolved on the basis of mutual goodwill, negotiation and diplomatic efforts, are resulting in open hostilities.”
Humanity has forgotten the past, he said, and called war a “dangerous syndrome” that can only be healed when national leaders adhere to “noble and profound spiritual values.”
“This will prevent reason from succumbing to foolishness and our lapsing into making the same mistakes of the past, mistakes made even worse by the greater technological power that human beings now possess,” he said.
Departing from his text, Francis also attacked the arms trade.
“it’s very sad today that in a country in Europe, the most [ready] investments they make are the production of arms. It’s very sad,” the pope said.
Francis issued an appeal for a return to Gospel values and urged national leaders to engage in “honest negotiations in order to resolve differences,” and to foster a “willingness to find honorable compromises, which undermine nothing and can instead build security and peace for all.”
According to a note from the Vatican Press Office, just before leaving for Rome’s Fiumicino airport for the brief flight to Luxembourg, the pope was greeted by a group of ten homeless persons who sleep in the area surrounding the Vatican. The group was organized by Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the pope’s top charitable official.
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