Pope Francis on Friday asked Europe to “tear down” the walls being built to keep out migrants and to create a radical new “social economy” serving the many not the few.
Invoking the memory of the EU’s founding fathers’ pursuit of integration in the aftermath of World War II, the pontiff said they inspired because they had “dared to change radically the models” that had led to war.
Saying he dreamed of a Europe in which “being a migrant is not a crime,” Francis said: “Today, more than ever, their vision inspires us to build bridges and tear down walls.”
The comments came in a speech at the Vatican following the 79-year-old pontiff’s presentation with the EU’s Charlemagne Prize for his contribution to European unification.