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PRESENTATION OF THE EPP-ED GROUP TO THE HOLY FATHER HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI 29 mars 2006 Documentation - Publications - Research Service EN

Presentation of the EPP-ED Group to the Holy Father his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI 3 30 March 2006 Address by the Chairman, Hans-Gert Poettering MEP, at the presentation of the EPP-ED Group to the Holy Father His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI It is a great honour to present to Your Holiness my colleagues in the Par- liamentary Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats in the European Parliament, their guests and the staff of the Group Secretariat. On behalf of the EPP-ED Group, I greet Your Holi- ness with great affection. In our programme, the Group is committed to the dignity of the human being, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and Hans-Gert Poettering MEP, Chairman of the the human person, the tran- EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament scendent dimension being at the very heart of its work. The Group fought for a reference to God in the European Constitution. Although we were not successful, we are proud of having done so. The fi nal text does embody essential Chris- tian values. Whatever the outcome, the EPP-ED Group, as an advocate of Judaeo-Christian values, is determined about the spiritual and moral dimension of the European project. Encouragement by your Holiness for this aim is vitally important for our Group! Europe is facing challenges, perhaps crisis, about which your Holiness spoke at Subiaco last year. But as Christians, hope and optimism are the basis of our work and activities. In our Group, Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Orthodox, Muslims and Jews are united. The Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Demo- crats) and European Democrats is truly ecumenical. Documentation - Publications - Research Service

The Group is determined to work on the religious dimension of Europe in addressing the crisis of culture, which affects all our peoples. This determination was shown by the Group’s successful initiative to obtain support from the European Union for the World Youth Days in Cologne in 2005. Further, through annual dialogue with the Orthodox Church, the Group seeks healing in the Christian division of Europe. Through initiatives with states of the Organisation of the Is- lamic Conference, the Group aims for new relationships, for which Christians and Muslims can be privileged partners as believers. We are joined by a guest from Arabia, a sign of the pioneer- ing work which Muslim and Christian Democrats are doing for a God-centred, more ethical world order. We do not believe in the ‘clash of civilisations’, we believe in cooperation, un- derstanding and partnership, if possible friendship, between cultures and religions. For more than twenty fi ve years, the Group has coordinated the Ecumenical Prayer Group in the European Parliament, open to Christians of all political families. Now at the end of the Group’s Study Days in Rome, I have the honour on their behalf to ask for your blessing on their lives His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and Hans-Gert Poettering MEP, Chairman of and their labours for peace and the EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament prosperity in Europe, and for reaching out to peoples through- out the world, in solving the problems of life. Documentation - Publications - Research Service

Presentation of the EPP-ED Group to the Holy Father his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI 5 30 March 2006 Holy Father, we thank you for the spiritual community which unites us, and we ask the Lord for his blessing for you and all of us, for a peaceful and democratic Europe which is both strong and humane. Documentation - Publications - Research Service

Documentation - Publications - Research Service

Presentation of the EPP-ED Group to the Holy Father his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI 7 30 March 2006 Address of his Holiness Benedict XVI to the members of the EPP-ED Group Honourable Parliamentarians, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to receive you on the occasion of the Study Days on Europe, organized by your Parliamentary Group. The Roman Pontiffs have always devoted particular attention to this continent; today’s audience is a case in point, and it takes its place in the long series of meetings between my predecessors and political movements of Christian inspiration. I thank the Honourable Mr Poettering for his words addressed to me in your name, and I extend to him and to all of you my cordial greetings. At present, Europe has to address complex issues of great importance, such as the growth and development of European integration, the increasingly precise defi nition of neigh- bourhood policy within the Union and the debate over its social model. In order to attain these goals, it will be important to draw inspiration, with creative fi delity, from the Chris- tian heritage which has made such a particular contribution to forging the identity of this continent. By valuing its Christian roots, Europe will be able to give a secure direction to the choices of its citi- zens and peoples, it will strengthen their aware- ness of belonging to a common civilization and it will nourish the commitment of all to address the challenges of the present for the sake of a better future. I therefore appreciate your Group’s recogni- tion of Europe’s Chris- tian heritage, which offers valuable ethical guidelines in the search His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and Hans-Gert Poettering MEP, Chairman of the for a social model that EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament responds adequately to Documentation - Publications - Research Service

the demands of an already globalized economy and to demographic changes, assuring growth and em- ployment, protection of the family, equal opportunities for education of the young and solicitude for the poor. Your support for the Chris- tian heritage, moreover, can contribute signifi cantly to the defeat of a culture that is now fairly widespread in Europe, which relegates to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and Hans-Gert Poettering MEP, Chairman of the EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament the private and subjective sphere the manifestation of one’s own religious convictions. Policies built on this foundation not only entail the repu- diation of Christianity’s public role; more generally, they exclude engagement with Eu- rope’s religious tradition, which is so clear, despite its denominational variations, thereby threatening democracy itself, whose strength depends on the values that it promotes (cf. Evangelium Vitae, 70). Given that this tradition, precisely in what might be called its polyphonic unity, conveys values that are fundamental for the good of society, the Euro- pean Union can only be enriched by engaging with it. It would be a sign of immaturity, if not indeed weakness, to choose to oppose or ignore it, rather than to dialogue with it. In this context one has to recognize that a certain secular intransigence shows itself to be the enemy of tolerance and of a sound secular vision of state and society. I am pleased, therefore, that the European Union’s constitutional treaty envisages a structured and ongoing relationship with religious communities, recognizing their identity and their spe- cifi c contribution. Above all, I trust that the effective and correct implementation of this relationship will start now, with the cooperation of all political movements irrespective of party alignments. It must not be forgotten that, when Churches or ecclesial communities intervene in public debate, expressing reservations or recalling various principles, this does not constitute a form of intolerance or an interference, since such interventions are aimed solely at enlightening consciences, enabling them to act freely and responsibly, according to the true demands of justice, even when this should confl ict with situations of power and personal interest. As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, the principal focus of her interventions in the public arena is the protection and promotion of the dignity of the person, and she is thereby consciously drawing particular attention to principles which are not negotiable. Among these the following emerge clearly today: Documentation - Publications - Research Service