The "European way of life" consists in "a social order that means economic effectiveness with social justice, political plurality with tolerance, liberality and openness, as well as the preservation of those values that give this Continent its special position". It was explained by the Pope who today, in his speech at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, commented that such "model" is facing "a big challenge": the challenge of globalisation. Even if "it cannot be stopped", admitted Benedict XVI, "it is an urgent task and a great responsibility for the political world" to give globalisation "some regulations and limits so as to avoid that it may be accomplished to the detriment of the poorest countries and of the poor people in the wealthy countries, and may damage the future generations". The Pope’s speech did not fail to make reference to the "terrible wrong paths" of Europe, which "include: the ideological restriction of philosophy, science and even faith, the abuse of religion and reason for imperialistic purposes, the debasement of man though a theoretical and practical materialism, and finally the degeneration of tolerance into an indifference that refers to no permanent values".
