Pope Leo XIV Invokes Europe’s Postwar Legacy, Calls for Dialogue and Peace
Leo visited Metz, an eastern French city near the borders with Luxembourg and Germany.
By Sakshi
New Delhi, September 28: Pope Leo XIV, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City, on Monday called on religious leaders to spread messages of peace and unity as he concluded a four-day visit to France, highlighting the role of dialogue in Europe’s post-World War II integration.
Leo visited Metz, an eastern French city near the borders with Luxembourg and Germany, where he attended an interreligious meeting at the Robert Schuman Conference Centre.
The pope chose Metz as the final stop of his visit to highlight Europe’s tradition of dialogue in addressing current challenges, including war, migration and political polarisation.
Addressing Jewish, Muslim, Protestant and Orthodox leaders, Leo cited the example of Robert Schuman, a French Catholic statesman regarded as one of the founding fathers of European unity, who promoted dialogue among former rivals.
He said religious leaders shared a responsibility to build friendships across borders and work for peace.
“Indeed, to invoke God’s name in order to justify violence or oppression is to profane that name,” Leo said. “Religious discourse must constantly call for the disarmament of hearts and words.”
During his visit, Leo also called on Europe to remember its Christian heritage and apply its values to contemporary ethical and geopolitical challenges.
At the Catholic shrine in Lourdes on Sunday, he criticised France’s recently approved legislation allowing medically assisted dying, describing it as “false compassion”. Large crowds attended his events during the visit, including about 800,000 people at his Mass at Paris’ Place de la Concorde.
On Monday morning, two French fighter jets escorted the Air France charter carrying Leo from Lourdes to Metz.
His final event in France was scheduled to be a Mass at Metz’s St Stephen’s Cathedral, a major example of French Gothic architecture known for its large stained-glass windows. Some of the windows were designed by 20th-century Jewish artist Marc Chagall.
The cathedral is also known as the “Lanterne du Bon Dieu”, or “The Good Lord’s Lantern”.
Robert Schuman is remembered for his 1950 Schuman Declaration, which proposed creating a European Coal and Steel Community to bring the production of coal and steel under a common framework between historic rivals France and Germany.
The idea, conceived as Europe was emerging from the ruins of World War II, was guided by the belief that intertwined economic interests would make another war between the two countries “not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible”.
The coal and steel organisation became the first of a series of European institutions that eventually developed into what is now the European Union.
Schuman, who had been imprisoned by the Nazis for his role in the French Resistance, was declared “venerable” by the Catholic Church in 2021, marking a step towards possible sainthood.
(Inputs from AP)
