Saint Joseph Catholic Church

“The founding fathers of [post-World War II] Europe, Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer and Alcide De Gasperi, inspired by their Christian faith, were not naïve dreamers, but the architects of a magnificent, albeit fragile, building,” the prelates said. “Europe cannot be reduced to an economic and financial market, on pain of betraying the initial vision of its founding fathers.”

The prelates added:

The world needs Europe. This is the urgency that Christians must make their own in order to be able to commit themselves decisively, wherever they are, to its future with the same lively awareness as the founding fathers ... In the name of their faith, Christians are called to share with all the inhabitants of the European continent their hope for universal brotherhood.

“I think of the dawn of Christianity in this city, when the Good News of Jesus began to circulate in various circles, including the army: a new way of living and thinking, a God who is love, mercy, forgiveness; a fraternity among all men and women that transcends every social and ethnic difference,” Pope Leo said during the audience, which took place on February 13 in Consistory Hall of the Apostolic Palace

The Pope added:

Dear friends, you are military personnel and you know well what hierarchy, command and obedience mean. We also use these words in the Church, transformed by the newness of the Gospel.

And, similarly, the Gospel, throughout the centuries, has permeated the structures, criteria, and ways of acting and thinking of the civilizations where it penetrated; it did so not with a violent revolution, but with a peaceful transformation, from within, through consciences, the conversion of hearts.

In this way the Gospel has brought the meaning of God and of humanity everywhere: absolute respect for life and for the human person, along with the worship of God, and Him alone.

At a February 12 meeting with Father Davide Pagliarani, the superior general of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), Cardinal Victor Fernandez proposed a “theological dialogue” with the traditionalist group—but insisted that the SSPX must abandon its plan to proceed with the ordination of new bishops without a papal mandate.