” “"We sent an invitation to Pope Benedict XVI to come and visit the EU Parliament in 2008, and we are waiting for a reply from the Holy See": Hans-Gert Poettering, president of the EU Assembly, confirms to SIR they invited the Pontiff to give an official speech at the EU Parliament in Strasbourg. The last visit by a Pope dates back to twenty years ago, with John Paul II’s visiting the Alsatian city. The decision had been taken "unanimously" a few days ago by the party leaders sitting in the EU Assembly; the same invitation has been sent to other religious leaders and international figures. "We invited explains Poettering to SIR politicians who are somehow representative of a people and a culture. We were thinking of the Israeli president Peres or the president of the African Union". Does the event have anything to do with the year 2008 that the EU proclaimed the Year of Intercultural Dialogue? "Yes, of course. We will reflect on the cultures as well as on the religions" existing in Europe and dialoguing across the world, explains Poettering. ” “
