Metz, France, Sept 28. (dpa/GNA) – Pope Leo XIV has appealed to Europe’s younger generations, not to be discouraged by the crises and conflicts in the world, as he spoke on the final day of his visit to France.
“Don’t fear the future” the head of the Catholic Church said on Monday, during his address to an audience in Metz in eastern France.
“Today, relations between people and between states are becoming increasingly barbaric,” Leo said. “The given word is disregarded. Instead, people boast of lies and deception,” he said, naming no specific politicians or countries.
Sharing the stage with French President Emmanuel Macron, he appealed to Europe to put an end to this “downward spiral.”
“Over the past 80 years, it has impressively demonstrated that it is possible to assert differing opinions, demands and interests by coming together rather than fighting one another,” he said.
Leo chose Metz as the final stop on his four-day visit to France, because it was the home of one of the founding fathers of the European Union, French politician Robert Schuman (1886-1963).
Schuman laid the foundations for today’s EU as foreign minister in the years after World War II.
GNA