In a message to the European Union Youth Conference, taking place this week in Prague, Pope Francis called upon participants to “present the world with a new face of Europe.”
The Pope contrasted this “new face” with the European past, saying that “your ancestors went to other continents, not always for noble interests.”
Remarking on the claim that if women ruled the world there would be fewer wars, the Pope said: “I like to think that if the world were ruled by young people, there would not be so many wars.” He encouraged the young Europeans to take as their model Franz Jägerstatter, who died for his passive resistance to Nazi tyranny.