Pope Francis, Europe and human rights

In a short, four-hour visit to Strasbourg, Pope Francis delivered speeches to both the European Parliament and the Council of Europe. The BBC and other media outlets picked up the comments in the third paragraph of his speech to the Parliament on the world’s perception of the EU as “somewhat elderly and haggard Europe”,

“As the European Union has expanded, the world itself has become more complex and ever changing; increasingly interconnected and global, it has, as a consequence, become less and less ‘Eurocentric’. Despite a larger and stronger Union, Europe seems to give the impression of being somewhat elderly and haggard, feeling less and less a protagonist in a world which frequently regards it with aloofness, mistrust and even, at times, suspicion.”

However, the press release of the European Parliament was more upbeat, and its summary of the Pope’s speech stated: Continue reading