Pope says Gospel should be source of peace, justice for Europe, world

Published: 2004-02-16

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II called for the universal message of the Gospel to be the source of peace and justice for the people of Europe and the world. The pope made his remarks to several hundred pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square for his noonday Angelus Feb. 15. Speaking from the window of his studio in the apostolic palace, the pope highlighted the importance of Sts. Cyril and Methodius -- whose feast day the church celebrated Feb. 14 -- along with St. Benedict, the patron saints of Europe. The pope said that by "evangelizing the central-eastern regions of the continent, they contributed decisively to Christian Europe being able to breathe with two lungs, one in the West and the other in the East." St. Benedict helped spread the Gospel in Western Europe in the sixth century while the apostle-brothers, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, evangelized the Slavic peoples in the East in the ninth century. "The encounter between the Gospel and cultures made Europe become a 'laboratory' where, over the centuries, important and lasting values were consolidated," the pope said. "Let us pray that even today the universal message of Christ, entrusted to the church, be the light of truth and source of justice and peace for the people of the continent and the entire world," he said.

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