Vatican
City, 8 February 2013
(VIS) – On behalf of the Pope, Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio
Bertone, S.D.B., greeted the conference organized to celebrate the
50th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty between France and Germany. The
conference, organized by the Pontifical Gregorian University, had as
its theme "Fifty Years of Friendship between France and Germany
at the service of Europe: The European Union – A Model for Other
Reconciliations?"
In
the text, made public this morning by the Press Office of the Holy
See, Cardinal Bertone said that "the celebrations marking the
50th anniversary of an important milestone on the path to
reconciliation and understanding between the French and German
peoples also bring to mind the personal commitment of the authors of
the Treaty, Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer. Even before the
stipulation of the Treaty, the two main protagonists of postwar
Europe, with their participation at the Reconciliation Mass in the
cathedral of Rheims, emphasized that politics are based on principles
that cannot be given to oneself."
"The
natural moral law, inscribed by the Creator in the human heart, and
the human values and rights that are shaped by the Gospel, constitute
the basis of a politics that is truly at the service of justice and
peace, as well as the progress of the human family. Political action
will also have to be built upon this basis in the future so that what
we have achieved together not be undermined by new challenges and
myopic personal interests and not be abandoned. Peace is an enduring
task that must always be accomplished anew."
At
the end of the text Cardinal Bertone affirmed that the Holy Father
invokes upon the entire French and German peoples, "God's
protection and blessing for a future of peace and freedom in their
own countries and throughout Europe."
Among
the participants in yesterday's conference were Annegret
Kramp-Karrenbauer, Minister-President of the state of the Saarland,
Germany and delegate for Franco-German cultural relations, Michel
Barnier, European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, and
Jacques Santer, former President of the European Commission.
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