Pope Francis is in Luxembourg for the first leg of his four-day Apostolic visit, which will also take him to Belgium.
By Phoebe Martel
Amongst those welcoming the Pope to Luxembourg is theologian Jean Ehret. Speaking to Vatican Radio’s Gudrun Sailer, he said that Pope Francis’ visit is a welcome display of his mission to spread a ‘new humanism’ across Europe and beyond.
The Reverend Professor Ehret is founder of the Luxembourg School of Religion and Society, an institute that encourages conservation and collaboration among ecclesiastics and academics of all religions. It aims to explore how faith intersects with a multicultural, modern world, and Ehret sees the Pope’s gospel as aligned with that mission.
“He not only has a religious message; he is also the one who represents the will to develop a new humanism, to foster dialogue among different religions and world views,” Ehret said.
Luxembourg is a small, majority Catholic nation, where 50 percent of its residents belong to the Church. Still, Ehret said, there are fundamental disagreements among Catholics about the future of Christianity, even in European countries with the most adherents.
“There is debate going on, and I think this is part of what Pope Francis is aiming at – to put forward a process that helps us understand how to be faithful Christians and witnesses to the Lord Jesus Christ today.”
Second leg in Belgium
Tomorrow, the Pope will head to nearby Belgium, where he will meet with bishops, priests and religious leaders before engaging with students at the Catholic University of Louvain. On Sunday, he will celebrate mass at the King Baudouin Stadium.
Some of the issues he is expected to highlight include migration, the climate crisis, and the importance of Christian education in an increasingly secular society.
