The Vatican’s Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, attended a meeting of parties of the European right, to share the Holy See’s vision of the European Continent.
Newsdesk (23/09/2021 02:30, Gaudium Press) The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, was invited to a meeting of Europe’s right-wing parties (European People’s Party) that took place yesterday in Rome.
The Cardinal explained to journalists the reason for his presence and that of other prelates, Cardinal Jean Claude Hollerich, President of the Commissariat, and Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of the Dicastery for Integral Human Development.
The EPP meeting “is dedicated today to listening to the Church. The presence of the exponents of the Holy See and the Commissariat is placed in this perspective: the fact that they want to listen to what the Church proposes and asks of them.”
Christianity is not like a Supermarket
The Cardinal said that the EPP does not fully identify with Catholicism, but many of the party members share and manifest principles of Christianity.
A journalist asked him about the Christian principles that are questioned by some members of the party the Cardinal replied “in Christianity, one does not choose what one likes best or what suits best, in Christianity one must accept everything,” including the defense of life in all its phases, but also the love of neighbor paying attention to the phenomenon of immigration.
“At the level of principle, for me, the thing is very clear,” continued the prelate, “Christianity is all this, you can’t go to the supermarket and take this, that, the other.”
The Four Pillars of the Old Continent
The Cardinal concluded by saying that there is always a risk of manipulating religions, including Christianity, for political ends.
Parolin recalled the Vatican’s vision of Europe. The Old Continent is built on four main pillars: the person, the community, subsidiarity, and solidarity “these are the cornerstones of the Holy See’s vision of Europe,” the cardinal concluded.
About the possible conclave evoked by Francis
Journalists took the opportunity to ask his opinion about the Pope’s comment during a meeting with Jesuits in Slovakia.
During the meeting, in reference to his intestinal operation, Francis said that he felt well and that he was still alive although some wanted him dead. Francis made mention that some were already preparing for the conclave.
Parolin commented on the statement saying that he does not have this information: “Honestly, I have no details to say. The Pope probably makes these statements because he has knowledge and information that has not reached me. What I would like to say is that I don’t think there is a climate of this kind.” (FM)
With information from Vatican News.
