In a secularized Luxembourg, Pope Francis tells Catholics to evangelize Europe

Rome Newsroom, Sep 26, 2024 / 13:45 pm

Pope Francis landed in Luxembourg on Thursday, the first stop in a four-day tour of two historically Christian countries in Europe, both of which are experiencing steep declines in religious adherence amid the spread of secularization.

Before taking a 55-minute flight to the neighboring country of Belgium on the afternoon of Sept. 26, the 87-year-old pope spent one day visiting the tiny but wealthy Luxembourg, where he called on politicians to be led by spiritual values and local Catholics to carry out a “missionary proclamation” of the Gospel.

Stopping in the Gothic 17th-century Notre-Dame Cathedral, Francis echoed the words of St. John Paul II during his 1985 visit to Luxembourg, saying he “would like to emphasize that we are in need of a Europe and a world in which the Gospel will be shared through the words you proclaim together with your loving actions.”

A constitutional monarchy, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is the European Union’s second-smallest country and the richest per capita. It has an estimated population of 672,000 people.

Luxembourg is also the seat of several institutions of the European Union, including the Court of Justice of the European Union, the highest judicial authority.

Just days after canceling two audiences because of a mild flu, Pope Francis arrived to find cool and rainy weather in the country, where he was greeted by modest crowds lining the streets in raincoats, holding umbrellas and small Luxembourg flags.

The Church in Luxembourg

Luxembourg has just one ecclesiastical territory, the Archdiocese of Luxembourg, which is led by Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, the relator-general of the Catholic Church’s Synod on Synodality.

Hollerich told “EWTN News Nightly” that the Catholic Church in Luxembourg is “a poor Church in a rich country.”

According to Vatican statistics from 2022, the archdiocese is estimated to have 271,000 Catholics, which is 41% of the population — a steep decline from 2018, when an estimated 63% of the population identified as Catholic.

The statistics on the practice of the Catholic faith are even more dismal, however. A 2022 TNS Ilres survey found that of the population that considers itself religious, the vast majority of whom are Catholic, only 6% say they go to Mass weekly and 30% say they “never or almost never” attend Mass.

“We once used to be as Catholic as Ireland was,” Hollerich said. “And like Ireland, not much has been left from that time.”

The cardinal noted that Luxembourg is very international: Just 30% of the population was born in Luxembourg and about half are not citizens — demographics that are reflected in the Church as well.

“So, we have a migrant society, and we have thriving communities, Portuguese-speaking, English-speaking, French-speaking, Polish-speaking, and they are signs of hope for our Church,” Hollerich said.

During his audience with the Catholic community in Notre-Dame Cathedral, Pope Francis listened to the testimony of Sister Maria Perpétua Coelho Dos Santos, who said the local Church is “rich with linguistic communities,” including immigrants from Vietnam, Cape Verde, Ukraine, Philippines, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and different African countries.

“If it is true that our diversity is a daily challenge, we live it above all as a richness,” she said.

At the Luxembourg cathedral, Pope Francis also heard the testimony of a young resident, Diogo Gomes Costa, who spoke about how his faith was reignited by attending World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal. He also listened to Christine Bußhardt, vice president of the diocesan pastoral council, who said “in the multicultural society of Luxembourg, our Christian mission is that of giving voice to God.

“The worldwide synodal process offers a historic opportunity for a much-needed renewal, and the seed of the synodal Church is already starting to germinate,” she said.

The pope then watched the performance of an original theatrical dance reenacting important moments from the life of St. Francis of Assisi.

According to the Archdiocese of Luxembourg, within eight hours after registration opened, more than 10,000 people had applied for one of 650 available spots for the meeting with Pope Francis in the Luxembourg cathedral. The seats were assigned through a random lottery and giant screens were set up outside where hundreds watched the encounter.

“The Church in Luxembourg lives in a strongly secularized society, with its suffering and difficulty, but also with its paths of hope,” Hollerich said in his greeting to Pope Francis in the cathedral. 

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As part of his visit, the pope opened a Marian Jubilee Year for the Archdiocese of Luxembourg, which commemorates 400 years of devotion to the country’s patroness, Mary, Consoler of the Afflicted.

“This Marian title corresponds well to the theme you have chosen for this visit: ‘To serve,’” Francis said. “Consoling and serving are in fact two fundamental aspects of the love that Jesus has given to us, the love he has entrusted to us as our mission and that he has shown as the only path to full joy.”

The pontiff also gave the cathedral a small, golden sculpture of a rosebush, a long-standing papal tradition known as the “golden rose.” Long ago, the sculpture was traditionally bestowed upon people, but in more recent decades, popes have given it to Marian shrines as a sign of the places’ Marian devotion.

Meeting Luxembourg’s royal and political leaders

In the morning, Francis’ first appointment was a visit to the grand duke of Luxembourg, Henri, and his wife, Grand Duchess María Teresa, at their official residence, the Grand Ducal Palace.

During the meeting, the pope posed in a gold-adorned ballroom for a photo with the royal couple, their five children, and seven of their eight grandchildren.

The pontiff then met the prime minister of the grand duchy, Luc Frieden, before addressing members of the government, civil society, and the diplomatic corps at a Luxembourg administrative building, Cercle Cité.

In his remarks at Cercle Cité, Pope Francis told the country’s leaders to “not forget that having wealth includes responsibility.”

“I ask for constant vigilance so that the most disadvantaged nations will not be neglected and that they be helped to rise from their impoverished conditions,” he said, adding that this is one way to help decrease the number of people forced to emigrate from their countries.

“With its particular history, and its equally particular geographical location, with just under half of its inhabitants coming from other parts of Europe and the wider world, may Luxembourg be a help and an example in pointing the way forward in welcoming and integrating migrants and refugees,” he said.

Francis also said the reemergence of war on the European continent means the daily lives of people and their leaders need “to be motivated by noble and profound spiritual values” in order to heal rifts and hostilities.

“As the successor of the Apostle Peter, and on behalf of the Church, which is an expert in humanity, I am here to testify that the Gospel is the life source and the ever-fresh force of personal and social renewal,” the pope said.

Pope Francis told Luxembourg’s politicians: “It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ alone that is capable of profoundly transforming the human soul, making it capable of doing good even in the most difficult situations, of extinguishing hatred and reconciling parties engaged in conflict. May everyone, every man and woman, in full freedom, know the Gospel of Jesus.” 

Referencing the motto of his visit, “to serve,” the pope added that “for all of us this call ‘to serve’ is the highest title of nobility, the principal task, the way of life to be followed each day.”

On his drive to Cercle Cité under the rain, Pope Francis’ car stopped several times to bless babies and greet children, to whom he gave a rosary and a piece of candy.

Within the mostly quiet crowds lining the streets, small groups occasionally broke out in chants of “Papa Francisco!” and brief cheers when they caught glimpses of the pope.

After lunch at the archbishop’s residence, the pontiff made a surprise visit at a nearby café, Cafe Cycliste, by stopping for a coffee with some of his assistants, according to the Holy See Press Office. On the way, he blessed a pregnant woman.

The night before leaving Rome, Sept. 25, Pope Francis made his customary visit to the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray before the icon of Mary Salus Populi Romani and to ask for Mary’s protection over the trip.

The morning of the flight, the pope received at his Santa Marta residence approximately 10 homeless men and women who sleep under the columns of St. Peter’s Square, accompanied by the papal almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Holy See Press Office said.

The pope’s four-day trip will continue in Belgium, where he will visit three cities to mark the 600th anniversary of the Catholic universities of Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve before returning to Rome Sept. 29.