Pope Francis said Wednesday that he was praying for European unity ahead of a big EU summit on the bloc’s response to the economic earthquake caused by the coronavirus emergency.
“In this moment when so much unity is needed, between us and between nations, let’s pray for Europe, so that it manages to find the fraternal unity that the founding fathers of the European Union dreamed of,” Francis said during Mass as the Casa Santa Marta residence inside the Vatican.
It was the second time in 10 days that Francis, a big supporter of the EU, had expressed concern about the bloc. On Easter Sunday he warned that it risked collapse if it did not agree on how to recover together.
The EU’s fiscally conservative northern nations remain keen to keep a tight rein on spending and have rejected calls from the ailing southern states for a joint debt – or ‘coronabonds’ – to fund the recovery.
EU states – whose leaders are holding a video summit on Thursday – have clashed repeatedly over financial responses to the epidemic, on issues from sharing medical equipment to cushioning the immediate economic hit.
The bloc has relaxed state aid rules and limits on public spending as well as unlocking a half-a-trillion euro rescue plan.
Read more via ANSA/Vatican News
