Metz

It was kind of like, okay, I want to make a visit to France.

You have to make the obligatory stops in Paris and Lourdes that all the popes do, and then, uh, he decided to then go to Metz in the north to talk about the importance of Europe, European unity.

Um, so why did he want to go? I'm not sure.

I think it's in part that there's this so-called revival happening in the French Church.

Yeah, listening to him speak on the plane, uh, especially when he was speaking English, um, I was just so struck by the fact that, like, Leo, at his heart, and this is something I think we've talked about between us before, is like, he is a priest that we have all known a million of, right? It's this guy around 70 who, like, went and worked in the missions in South America and came back and, like, never totally, like, left his heart in South America and, you know, doesn't take Vatican II as being in question at all, but, like, it's exactly his vision of the church.

Uh, and so as he was talking, I was just like, "Oh," like, "right, this is, this is a pastor.

This is a pastor that you could run into in any parish in the Midwest." Um, but I think to push back a little bit on, on what I wrote, the last day surprised me, uh, because it was quite a political day because he gave that big speech about Europe in Metz, and it was a really powerful talk.

So this is in the far, uh, eastern, kind of northeastern part of France, close to the border with Luxembourg and Germany, that was actually decimated by the Second World War, right? So a, a, a profound place of trauma.

In questo contesto ho incontrato alcune persone vittime di abusi e ho chiesto loro di aiutarmi a esprimere anche ad altre vittime la volontà mia e di tutta la Chiesa di ascoltarle e camminare con loro mentre cercano la guarigione, riconoscendo il dolore causato nelle loro vite e lavorando per la prevenzione degli abusi.

Terza e ultima tappa del viaggio apostolico è stata la città di Metz, in una regione della Francia e dell'Europa martoriata dalla Seconda Guerra Mondiale.

Lì ha operato Robert Schuman, uno dei principali ispiratori del processo di unificazione europea.

L'Europa contemporanea è nata proprio come progetto di pace dopo la distruzione della guerra.

E l'Europa è rinata sulla base di quei principi di democrazia, solidarietà e fraternità tra i popoli che molto devono alle sue radici cristiane.

Anche oggi è su tali fondamenta e con questa linfa vitale che il progetto d'Europa può rinnovarsi in un mondo molto più globalizzato, dove il dialogo interreligioso riveste un ruolo di primaria importanza.

Per questo a Metz ho incontrato i rappresentanti delle diverse tradizioni religiose, i quali hanno letto e sottoscritto in mia presenza l'appello di Metz per il dialogo e il pa- e la pace.

Carissimi, il tema della mia visita pastorale in Francia è stato: pour que le monde ait la vie.

NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports.

Pope Leo spoke in the city of Metz in the Alsace-Lorraine region, long disputed by France and Germany.

[speaking in foreign language]

"Today, unfortunately, war has come again to Europe," he said, "where pointless massacres are taking civilian lives." Leo said Europe can stop the spiral of violence.

As NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports, the American-born pontiff spent his final day in France in a city that is symbolic of post-World War II reconciliation in Europe.

Pope Leo spoke in the city of Metz in the Alsace-Lorraine region, long disputed by France and Germany.

"Today, unfortunately, war has come again to Europe," he said, "where pointless massacres are taking civilian lives." Leo said Europe can stop the spiral of violence.

"You have demonstrated over the past eighty years of peace that it's possible to express divergent opinions, demands, and interests through dialogue rather than confrontation," he said.