{"id":846273,"date":"2025-05-06T18:12:04","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T23:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/06\/he-returned-to-the-house-of-the-father-european-leaders-hail-pope-francis\/"},"modified":"2025-05-06T18:12:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T23:12:04","slug":"he-returned-to-the-house-of-the-father-european-leaders-hail-pope-francis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/06\/he-returned-to-the-house-of-the-father-european-leaders-hail-pope-francis\/","title":{"rendered":"‘He Returned to the House of the Father’: European Leaders Hail Pope Francis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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European political leaders moved to express their memories, condolences, and hopes on Monday as the news of the passing of Pope Francis<\/a> earlier that morning.<\/p>\n

Much of Europe has, historically, been Catholic and remains officially so even amid the recent decades of change, excepting the Orthodox East and Protestant north. In Paris, the bells of the recently restored Notre Dame rung out 88 times for the Pope\u2019s 88 years of age, and the Eiffel Tower will not be illuminated this evening. In churches throughout Catholic Austria, bells will rung simultaneously for ten minutes this afternoon and football matches planned for today across Italy are cancelled in mourning.<\/p>\n

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Appropriately the Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni \u2014 the Trump-adjacent right-wing populist recently hailed as the most consequent national leader<\/a> inside the European Union \u2014 led reactions from the European political class to the announcement of the death of Pope Francis on Monday.<\/p>\n

In a statement Catholic-faith politician Meloni said: \u201cPope Francis has returned to the Father\u2019s house\u2026 [leaving us]\u00a0without a great man and a great shepherd. I had the privilege of enjoying his friendship, his advice, and his teachings, which never faltered even in moments of trial and suffering\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Pope asked the world to follow a path \u201cthat does not destroy, but cultivates, repairs, safeguards\u201d, she recalled, concluding: \u201cWe bid farewell to the Holy Father with hearts full of sorrow, but we know that he is now in the peace of the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Also from Italy came remarks from the President,\u00a0Sergio Mattarella who reflected on void left by the Pontiff, saying this \u201carouses pain and emotion among Italians and throughout the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the United Kingdom Buckingham Palace published a statement from King Charles III which went into rather more detail than many of the politicians\u2019 across the continent. Expressing the deep sadness of the Royal Family at the death of the Pope, the King said \u201cour heavy hearts have been somewhat eased\u201d by knowing the Pope was able to celebrate Easter before his passing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis Holiness will be remembered for his compassion, his concern for the unity of the Church and for his tireless commitment to the common causes of all people of faith, and to those of goodwill who work for the benefit of others\u201d, the King said.<\/p>\n

Several politicians of this historically Protestant nation also made remarks, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer who spoke of \u201cthe pope for the poor\u201d and Brexit leader Nigel Farage who said in his usual relationships-focussed style: \u201cI met him and liked him very much\u201d.<\/p>\n

In Germany, outgoing left-wing Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: \u201cthe<\/span> Catholic<\/span> Church<\/span> and<\/span> the<\/span> world<\/span> lose<\/span> an<\/span> advocate<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> weak,<\/span> a<\/span> reconciler,<\/span> and<\/span> a<\/span> warm-hearted<\/span> person.<\/span> I<\/span> greatly<\/span> appreciated<\/span> his<\/span> clear<\/span> perspective<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> challenges<\/span> that<\/span> concern<\/span> us.<\/span> My<\/span> condolences<\/span> go<\/span> out<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> faithful<\/span> worldwide\u201d. His replacement, the soon-to-be confirmed incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the news of the death of the Pope left him feeling \u201cdeep sorrow\u201d and noted \u201cFrancis will be remembered for his tireless commitment to the weakest in society, for justice and reconciliation\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Austria\u2019s President\u00a0Alexander Van der Bellen\u2019s memorialisation of the Pope remembered particularly that he had \u201ctravelled<\/span> to<\/span> Lampedusa<\/span> to<\/span> meet<\/span> with<\/span> the<\/span> refugees\u2026 time and again, he directed a spotlight wherever he saw the well-being of people threatened. Be it through war, dictatorship, or climate change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

France\u2019s Emmanuel Macron struck similar notes, stating: \u201c<\/span>From Buenos Aires to Rome, Pope Francis wanted the Church to bring joy and hope to the poorest. To unite people with one another and with nature. May this hope be reborn endlessly beyond him.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Europe\u2019s predominantly Orthodox east, Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelensky noted millions would mourn the death of Pope Francis, stating: \u201cHe knew how to give hope, ease suffering through prayer, and foster unity. He prayed for peace in Ukraine and for Ukrainians. We grieve together with Catholics and all Christians who looked to Pope Francis for spiritual support. Eternal memory!\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Clora Serna
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

European political leaders moved to express their memories, condolences, and hopes on Monday as the news of the passing of Pope Francis earlier that morning. Much of Europe has, historically, been Catholic and remains officially so even amid the recent decades of change, excepting the Orthodox East and Protestant north. In Paris, the bells of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":846274,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,2713],"tags":[5065,16911],"class_list":{"0":"post-846273","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-house","8":"category-returned","9":"tag-house","10":"tag-returned"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/846274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}