Pope calls on Europe to keep Christian heritage

Pope Benedict yesterday urged Europe not to sweep aside its Christian heritage, saying the search for God should be as much a part of the foundation of the continent's culture today as it was in centuries past. The 81-year-old pontiff made his appeal at the start of his first visit as Pope to France, where he stressed that laicite, the separation of church and state enshrined in its Constitution could never be threatened by religion.

Europe, he said, would be spiritually defeated if it convinced itself that God had no role in modern life.

"To seek God and to let oneself be found by him - that is today no less necessary than in former times," he said in a long address to intellectuals and artists.

"What gave Europe's culture its foundation - the search for God and the readiness to listen to him - remains today the basis of any genuine culture," he said in fluent French.

Forgetting this would be unreasonable and raise the risk that Europe could fall prey to the two extremes of "subjective arbitrariness and fundamentalist fanaticism", he declared.

Members of France's Muslim community attended the lecture and were introduced to Pope Benedict after he finished. The Pope had earlier met Jewish leaders, who could not attend the evening lecture because of the start of the Sabbath.

The German Pope made similar comments about religion aboard the plane taking him to Paris and in an address to President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has broken a political taboo by speaking openly and positively about the role of religion in society.

"It is fundamental, on the one hand, to insist on the distinction between the political realm and that of religion," Pope Benedict said in his speech at the President's Elysee Palace.

It was necessary, he added, "to become more aware of the irreplaceable role of religion for the formation of consciences (and) the creation of a basic ethical consensus within society".

Bells rang out across Paris to greet the Pope as he arrived at the Elysee but there were none of the huge crowds that welcomed his predecessor Pope John Paul on his eight trips to France, which are credited with sparking a rebirth in Catholic identity.

Traditionally Catholic, France maintains a strict separation of Church and state. The French Church struggles with a shortage of priests and Sunday Mass attendance is below 10 per cent.

But religion has re-emerged as a factor in public life in recent years, especially because of the growth of Islam, and French Catholics have increasingly spoken out on social issues.

In his speech to the Pope Mr Sarkozy said it would be "folly" for France to ignore its long history of Christian thought. He said all religions helped "respond to man's need for hope... the search for spirituality is not a danger for democracy, not a danger for secularism".

The twice-divorced Mr Sarkozy, who considers himself a "cultural Catholic" but does not attend Mass regularly, broke with protocol to greet Pope Benedict at Orly airport.

His wife Carla Bruni, the Italian-born singer and former supermodel, was present at the airport and palace.

Pope Benedict said the Church could help guide young people to live responsibly and draw attention to environmental problems, adding he was worried about the state of the planet.

Richard Prasquier, head of the CRIF umbrella group of Jewish organisations, praised Pope Benedict for his short meeting with him and the outgoing and newly elected chief rabbis of France, Joseph Sitruk and Gilles Bernheim.

"He said spiritually we are all Semites, so his speech was very important because it showed he followed the same line" as the late Pope John Paul, Dr Prasquier said.

After an open-air morning Mass in Paris today, the Pope flies to the southwestern pilgrimage site of Lourdes to mark the 150th anniversary of apparitions of the Virgin Mary there.