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Pope warns europe { November 14 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Remember Europe's heritage, says pope
By Tony Barber in Rome
Published: November 14 2002 17:49 | Last Updated: November 14 2002 17:49
Pope John Paul urged European countries on Thursday to remember the "religious, cultural and spiritual heritage" of the continent as the EU prepares to expand to the east. He also warned that international terrorism was damaging the world's great religions and called on Christian countries to work for peace rather than be dragged into what he described as a futile logic of conflict.
The 82-year-old Polish-born pontiff was repeatedly interrupted with bursts of applause from members of Italy's two legislative chambers as he brought 142 years of often fraught relations between the Vatican and the Italian state to a close by making the first ever papal speech to Italy's parliament.
With the EU redefining its main institutions and poised to admit new members from central and eastern Europe, it was important to ensure the "common European house" was built with "the cement of that extraordinary religious, cultural and civic heritage that has made Europe great down the centuries", he said.
"It is necessary therefore to be on guard against a vision of the continent which considers only its economic and political aspects, or which uncritically engages in ways of life based on a consumerism that is indifferent to the values of the spirit.
"If one wants to give durable stability to Europe's new unity, it is necessary to ensure that it rests on those ethical foundations which were once at its base, making space at the same time for the richness and diversity of the cultures and traditions that characterise individual nations," he said.
The pope made clear his condemnation of terrorism by declaring it had assumed a "new and terrible dimension, implicating in a completely distorted way the great religions".
Without specifically mentioning the US-led effort to disarm Iraq, by force if necessary, John Paul said countries with a Christian-based culture must not ignore current threats but equally should not "let themselves be imprisoned by a logic of conflict that would hold no solutions".
For the domestic Italian audience, the pope reserved two particular appeals. Lamenting what he called "the crisis of the birth rate and demographic decline" in Italy, he suggested politicians should pursue policies aimed at encouraging married people to raise more children.
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