Invitation to Benedict XVI

An exchange “on questions relating to intercultural and inter-religious dialogue” and “relations between the Holy See and the Council of Europe”: these were the questions that dominated the private audience granted by Benedict XVI to RENÉ VAN DER LINDEN , Dutch President of the parliamentary Assembly (APCE) of the organization founded in 1949, to which 46 countries now belong. At the end of the audience, held in the Vatican on Monday 3 April, Van der Linden delivered to “His Holiness a letter of the APCE, inviting him to intervene in the Assembly”. The invitation could be discussed during the next session of the APCE, planned in Strasbourg from 10 to 13 April. Born at Eys-Wittem in Holland in 1943, Van der Linden is married and has three children. After studying at the Catholic Faculty of Economics at Tilburg, he became a lecturer in economics, a civil servant, member of parliament, and an active member of Christian-Democratic groups. He has sat on the benches of the Palais de l’Europe since 1989. Gianni Borsa, SIR’s correspondent in Brussels, met him. President, your visit to Benedict XVI no doubt had an institutional significance. But, for a Catholic, personal sensations could hardly have been be absent in such an event… “Yet, that’s true, for me it was a great emotion to be received in audience by the Holy Father. It touched my heart. I discussed many questions with the Pope, starting out from the conviction that the Catholic Church plays an essential role in our society and in our Europe. The Church is the bearer of fundamental values and, in this, is fully in tune with the Council of Europe, which is itself a community of values, committed to the promotion of democracy, human rights and the rule of law”. Ever since its foundation, the Council of Europe has given priority to respect for the various cultures and religious faiths present in the continent. Was that one of the themes in your discussions with the Holy Father? “Our parliamentary assembly is the only forum in Europe in which all the continent’s cultural expressions, traditions and religions are present. It’s a strategic element in this phase of rapid transformation of European society, and mention of this was made during my visit. Another aspect we discussed was the need to construct a Europe of solidarity. The Pope further underlined the need to give the young solid prospects of being able to form a family, especially in the field of education and work”. Any other topics you talked about? “Yes, we also touched on international issues, beginning with the support we need to give to the poor countries. Another question we addressed was the fact that the revolving Presidency of the Council of Europe will pass to Russia from May onwards, for six months. It’s an important handover, because it’s the first time Moscow has led an international institution of this type. Russia is a giant in every sense, she has an enormously rich history and culture; there will thus be opportunity to draw on this legacy to widen the basis of democracy and mutual understanding in Europe”. And what about relations between the Council of Europe and the Vatican? “The Holy See has been an observer in the Council of Europe for several years. I am convinced she will make a significant contribution at the level of ethical principles and values to the work of the organization. The Holy See is a positive and constructive presence in the COE: inspired as it is not by the concern to represent political interest, but by the need to give voice to millions of believers and restore every discussion to the central imperative of respect for man, the dignity of human life, the value of peace and dialogue between peoples”. You handed over to Benedict XVI a letter inviting him to Strasbourg; his predecessor, John Paul II, also made an address to the organization in October 1988. Did the Pope give you a reply? “Not a definitive reply, still less a date. But I must say the Pope had a positive expression on receiving the invitation. It would be wonderful if he were to accept! People in Strasbourg still remember the speech of John Paul II, a constructor of continental unity. Another fact that seems to me positive is that when I proposed to the heads of the political groups present in the Assembly the idea of officially inviting the Pope, I got a unanimous reply from all of them in favour of such a visit”. A final question. There is much talk at the present time of a situation of impasse for European integration. What might be the role of the COE? “The Council of Europe can make a contribution linked to its statutory aims, of which I spoke earlier, beginning with democracy and respect for human rights in every corner of the continent. Obviously in a phase like the present one, a specific impulse can be given by a the serene debate between the various cultural forms and expressions and between the various religions present in Europe, and by promoting a collaboration between them that rests on values as well as on concrete questions”.