The Vatican said that Archbishop Tauran will meet with Nicole Fontaine, president of the European Parliament, and Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission.
Archbishop Tauran will also meet with Louis Michel, vice prime minister and foreign affairs minister of Belgium, and will address the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Belgian Senate.
In a letter dated April 13, addressed to Cardinal Miroslav Vlk, outgoing president of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences, on the occasion of the European Ecumenical Meeting, John Paul II said: «A clear proclamation of the Gospel in Europe is particularly urgent.»
«Europe, made up of different cultures, traditions and values linked to the countries that are part of it, cannot be understood or built without keeping in mind the roots that make up its identity,» the letter said. «Neither can it be built by rejecting Christian spirituality, with which it is imbued.»