Pasquale Annicchino on Pope Francis at the EU

Pope Francis spoke today at the European Parliament. Pasquale Annicchino gave interviews in three languages for Aleteia, a major Vatican information news site.

Pope Francis will visit the seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Tuesday, a one-day visit that will include an address to the parliament as well as the Council of Europe.

But with this visit, is the Church interfering in the political life of States — and the European Union — or is the Pope’s visit an opportunity for encounter and dialogue?

German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), has underlined that Pope Francis, through his visit to the European Parliament, “is signaling his support and encouragement of the pursuit of the integration and unity of Europe.” The dialogue between religious confessions and regarding religious liberty play an important role in this process.

Aleteia asked Dr. Pasquale Annicchino to help us understand several aspects of EU policy related to religious freedom, and the impact of the Pope’s visit may have for this important Institution.

-English http://www.aleteia.org/en/world/art-icle/pope-francis-to-the-european-parliament-interference-or-dialogue-5815032751325184

-French:http://www.aleteia.org/fr/intern-ational/art-icle/le-pape-francois-au-parlement-europeen-interference-ou-dialogue-5291311150137344?page=2

-Italian:http://www.aleteia.org/it/dal-mondo/interviste/papa-francesco-parl-amento-europeo-intervista-pasquale-annicchino-5886124123750400