Europe · updated 2h ago · 2 min read
Pope Leo XIV Urges Europe To Return To Christian Roots And Engage Migrants In Metz
Europe should return to Christian roots and engage with migrants. Urged peaceful dialogue over military buildups to end European conflicts.
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Metz speech on Europe
Pope Leo XIV urged Europe to return to its Christian roots and to engage with people from other cultures living within it during a speech delivered in France's northeastern city of Metz on Monday, the fourth and final day of his visit. Pope Leo XIV told European leaders, “Relations between individuals and states are becoming increasingly uncivilised,” and he said, “Europe can help to break this cycle through the respect for others that it has learned to cultivate and preserve.”
Pope Leo XIV also said, “We need to commit ourselves to patient dialogue, to show courage in negotiation and to be willing to give up some positions for the greater good of peace,” as he addressed religious and civil leaders at the Robert Schuman conference center. Pope Leo XIV framed the moment as “an unprecedented encounter between peoples and cultures,” and he said it calls Europe to “rediscover our roots in new and creative ways, while at the same time listening carefully to others.”
Dialogue over rearmament
Pope Leo XIV warned that Europe must guard against “the illusion that rearmament is the answer,” while he urged leaders to choose peaceful dialogue rather than military buildup. Pope Leo XIV said, “Today, sadly, war has returned, even to Europe: a new ‘senseless slaughter,’ claiming countless civilian lives every day,” as he spoke in Metz.
Pope Leo XIV urged negotiators seeking to end war in Europe to be willing to sacrifice some positions, and he said, “We need ... to show courage in negotiation and to be willing to give up some positions for the greater good of peace.” Pope Leo XIV also reiterated his opposition to rising European military spending, saying, “We must also guard against the illusion that rearmament is the answer,” as he addressed European leaders in Metz, home of Robert Schuman.
Migrants, unity, and Schuman
Pope Leo XIV urged European leaders to integrate migrants arriving on the continent and to offer them opportunities as if they were family members, and he said, “To welcome a person means to integrate them as if they were part of one’s own family.” Pope Leo XIV called for “legal and safe pathways” for immigration and said the arrival of migrants and refugees fleeing war and persecution or seeking a better life could be an opportunity for “genuine cultural integration rather than exclusion.”
Pope Leo XIV linked his message to Robert Schuman, and he said Schuman’s Christian formation “taught him the value of equality, without distinction of race or social class, and the dignity of work.” Pope Leo XIV also said Schuman “helped to lay the foundations of a Europe that was aware of the urgent need to tear down the walls that were dividing it,” as he spoke in Metz, where Schuman lived and is buried nearby.