The Pope’s comments came on Thursday when he received Antonio Ganado, Malta’s new ambassador to the Holy See. In recent weeks French and Dutch voters have rejected the European Constitutional Treaty, and governmental leaders of EU member countries are now meeting in Brussels.
“To give life to a united and solidaristic Europe is a commitment of all the peoples that constitute it,” the Holy Father said.
“Europe must be able to combine the legitimate interests of each nation with the exigencies of the common good of the whole continent,” he added.
The Holy Father thanked Malta for its efforts, though unsuccessful, to have the Christian roots of the continent mentioned in the Constitutional Treaty.
Benedict XVI urged the European community not to lose “the legacy of cultural and religious values of its past. Only with these conditions will it be possible to build with firm hope a future of solidarity and peace.”
