Europe Day: Cardinal
Hollerich urges EU to fight Covid-19 and nationalism
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| Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich prays before the EU flag in Schengen |
On Europe Day, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich urges European
leaders to show solidarity in the struggle to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic
and the threat of resurgent nationalism.
Europe is marking the 70th anniversary of
the Schuman Declaration on Saturday, which set in motion events that eventually
led to the creation of the European Union.
For the occasion, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich spent the
day in the Luxembourg town of Schengen, where the declaration was signed on 9
May 1950.
With the Covid-19 pandemic raging around the world, the
president of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union
(COMECE) is urging EU leaders to come together in unity to help those in need.
Great European celebration
In an interview with Sister Bernadette Reis, Cardinal
Hollerich said Europe Day 2020 is a “great day of celebration.”
“If you look back to the process of European integration, we
can be thankful,” he said. “We have peace, a certain unity, European values,
and we can be proud of what our parents and grandparents built on this
continent.”
Christian roots remedy to fear
But Cardinal Hollerich warned that fear has crept
insidiously inside Europe, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic. “Fear is
always a bad counselor. Fear has closed the borders. Fear has brought new
nationalisms, which are, in fact, national egoisms.”
He urged Europeans to look back to the founding fathers and
their Christian roots. They were “inspired by their Christian faith for
reconciliation, to see not an enemy in the other, but a friend who had been
lost”.
Europe’s Christian roots, said Cardinal Hollerich, need to
be lived now in a spirit of solidarity and fraternity, to overcome the fears
that divide nations.
Compromise required
The Archbishop of Luxembourg said Europe has fought hard to
respond to the Covid-19 crisis, agreeing a large bailout package.
But, he said, extensive discussions and compromise are
required. “It is very difficult, when people suffer, to see these long
political discussions,” he said, expressing his hope that aid will quickly
reach those in need.
Opportunity in crisis
Cardinal Hollerich said this difficult moment also presents
opportunities, as Pope Francis has sought to remind world leaders.
“I have met so many politicians who are very grateful to
[Pope Francis] for his ideas and everything he says about Europe.”
The Cardinal said every day is a God-given opportunity to
“live charity, hope, and solidarity.”
“And in such a time of crisis, Christian people who pray and
discern the signs of the times can see that there is such a chance for more
solidarity and more help,” he said. “Now we have the chance to show that all
the discussions about European values and the European ideal are not a theory.
They can be lived, and they function when we live them.”
Reopen the borders
Cardinal Hollerich also pointed out that Europe has a
problem with borders, both within the Schengen area and on the EU’s external
borders.
He said the closure of the internal borders have a great
impact on people, due to their symbolic value. “People see the closed borders,
but they do not yet see the help coming from the European Union. So I think the
mood is rather negative in many countries, especially in border regions.”
Regarding the EU’s external borders, Cardinal Hollerich
lamented that people have been killed while trying to seek refuge in Europe.
“It is inadmissible that people who see Europe as a haven of
peace, of solidarity – who believe in our theories – get killed while trying to
enter this Europe,” he said.
Europe and its politicians, concluded Cardinal Hollerich,
need to put “the weakest and the poorest at the center of their concern.”
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