Rome, Italy, Oct 5, 2007 / 07:36 am
Cardinal Peter Erdo of Budapest and President of the Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Europe, said this week, “As Christians we have much to offer to the building of a common European home. Without the Church, Europe would be missing its heart.”
The cardinal was in Fatima, Portugal, for the Plenary Assembly of the Council. During a press conference in Lisbon, he noted, “The Christian roots in Europe are not separated from Europe’s identity and therefore from the testimony of living and visible Christianity.” This testimony is lived out especially in marriage, he said, which “young people perceive as one of the great values which they desire and consider one of the foundations of the family.”
Speaking to Vatican Radio, the cardinal also stated that the Council was meeting in Fatima to mark “the 90th anniversary of the apparitions. The proposal to pray together for Europe, to consecrate Europe to the heart of the Virgin Mary and to the heart of Jesus is completely natural,” he said.
“There are many other issues in today’s world that we must confront,” the cardinal said, including the “state of the institution of marriage in Europe.” “The issue of marriage and the family is fundamental,” he added.