(Bishop Jean-Pierre Grallet, Archbishop of Strasbourg – Bishop Ulrich Fischer, Evangelical Church in Baden – Father Vasile Iorgulescu, Romanian Orthodox Church – President Jean-François Collange, Union of Protestant Churches of Alsace and Lorraine – Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, Archbishop of Freiburg)
Dear Friends, it is with joy that we welcome you most cordially to the Strasbourg Cathedral, a place steeped in history which, for nearly a thousand years, has borne the faith of Christians, with their joys and sorrows, their trials and their hope.
In Alsace, Strasbourg is a stronghold of Franco-German reconciliation, and therefore of peace in Europe. Strasbourg is a city where ecumenical relations are lived out happily. Strasbourg is a city where Europe is being built.
This Europe is beautiful but fragile: it is our common home and all must work to build it. Thank you, young people, for committing yourselves in actions of solidarity in the service of others: together, let us be creators of brotherhood and peace!
On behalf of our Catholic and Protestant Churches of France and Germany, in communion with the Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant Communities of Alsace and Baden, we are pleased to welcome you in order to raise up to God our confident prayer.