Countries in Europe must do more to promote development and the ending of violence in Africa, the Vatican’s secretary of state has said.Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said there was also a need for European nations to promote peace in the Holy Land and work for the good of their own citizens by protecting the traditional family.
The cardinal made his remarks on February 10 in an address to ambassadors to the Vatican from member nations of the European Union.
"You must fight the temptation to establish contacts with African nations with an exclusive aim of gaining the greatest possible profit," the cardinal told the ambassadors during the meeting at the Czech Embassy to the Holy See.
European involvement in Africa must aim instead at helping Africans become the protagonists of their own cultural, civic, economic and social development, he said.
For that to happen, the nations need material assistance and encouragement to resolve the conflicts under way, address injustices and help the hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced people.
According to Vatican Radio, Cardinal Bertone also urged the European Union and its member nations to take a more active role in pressing for a peaceful resolution of the ongoing tensions in the Holy Land.
Peace throughout the Middle East, he said, depends on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that will happen only with the realisation of the legitimate aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security in their own states.
As for the Gaza Strip, torn by fighting in late December and January, Cardinal Bertone said it was a priority "to guarantee the access of humanitarian aid destined for the civilian population" and to insist that both sides resolve their differences with negotiations, not violence.
Looking to Europe itself, the cardinal asked the continent's governments to pay greater attention to the needs of families because the stability of a society depends on the stability of traditional families, who care for and educate their children.
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(Source: TC)