It has been a month since a non-European Pope visited the European institutions in Strasbourg to address both the European Parliament and the Council of Europe. The Argentinian Pontiff started his address by saying that he visited the European institutions as a pastor “to offer a message of hope and encouragement to all the citizens of Europe”.

His message was one “of hope, based on the confidence that our problems can become powerful forces for unity in working to overcome all those fears which Europe – together with the entire world – is presently experiencing”.

The Holy Father qualified his message as being one “of hope in the Lord, who turns evil into good and death into life”.

The Pope told European MPs that the promotion of human rights is pivotal to the mission of the EU in championing the dignity of the person. Nevertheless, advancing the dignity of the human person does not mean regarding them “as absolutes but as beings in relation”.

Christianity should inspire the EU by keeping propagating the values of peace, subsidiarity and reciprocal solidarity

In front of the disease of loneliness, especially among the elderly, who are sadly and tragically “abandoned to their fate”, coupled with the youth, the poor and immigrants who lack opportunities for a better future, Christianity should inspire the EU by continuing to propagate the values of peace, subsidiarity as well as reciprocal solidarity.

The Pope said: “I would like to reaffirm the centrality of the human person, which, otherwise, is at the mercy of the whims and the powers of the moment.

“I consider to be fundamental not only the legacy that Christianity has offered in the past to the social and cultural formation of the continent but, above all, the contribution which it desires to offer today, and in the future, to Europe’s growth.

“This contribution does not represent a threat to the secularity of states or to the independence of the institutions of the European Union but, rather, an enrichment. This is clear from the ideals which shaped Europe from the beginning, such as peace, subsidiarity and reciprocal solidarity and a humanism centred on respect for the dignity of the human person.”

What are the consequences if these Christian founding values of the EU end up being discarded?

First, individualism.

“We encounter certain... selfish lifestyles, marked by an opulence which is no longer sustainable and frequently indifferent to the world around us and, especially, to the poorest of the poor.”

Second, exploitation.

“Men and women risk being reduced to mere cogs in a machine that treats them as items of consumption to be exploited, with the result that – as is so tragically apparent – whenever a human life no longer proves useful for that machine, it is discarded with few qualms, as in the case of the terminally ill, the elderly who are abandoned and uncared for and children who are killed in the womb.”

Europe errs seriously if it tries to fill its existential vacuum by technology. In fact, the latter not only paves the way for a “throwaway culture” and “uncontrolled consumerism” but also instigates violence. Pope Francis observed that “man’s forgetfulness of God, and his failure to give Him glory,... gives rise to violence”.

The Holy Father thinks Europe has a bright future if it affirms the centrality of the human person, particularly in three domains, namely the family, employment and immigration.

For the Pope, the family is “the fundamental cell and most precious element of any society”.

In his opinion, now is the time “to promote policies which create employment but, above all, there is a need to restore dignity to labour by ensuring proper working conditions”.

Finally, when dealing with the question of immigration, the Holy Father stressed that we cannot allow the Mediterranean to become a vast cemetery.

He challenged the European MPs to confront the problems of immigration “only if it is capable of clearly asserting its own cultural identity and enacting adequate legislation to protect the rights of European citizens and to ensure the acceptance of immigrants”.

He also stressed the need to adopt policies that help the countries of origins, where conflicts often cause people to migrate.

Can Pope Francis’ insights inspire our political setting in this new year?