First Vice-President of the European Parliament Mairead McGuinness MEP was at a private audience with His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican, Rome. The Vice-President of the European Parliament discussed the future of Europe and her responsibility for dialogue with religions with Pope Francis last weekend in the Vatican.
Mairead McGuinness MEP was in Rome for a conference entitled ‘(Re)Thinking Europe – A Christian Contribution to the Future of the European Project’, organised by the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE).
“It was an honour to meet Pope Francis and to discuss my role with him. We talked about a number of issues and the importance of communication between the generations,” Mairead McGuinness said.
The Midlands North West MEP touched on a concern similar to that raised by Pope Francis saying: “The balance between capital and labour has shifted. Today we read of exploitation of workers in the agriculture sector in Europe – those who provide our daily bread,” she said, adding that such exploitation is unacceptable in our Europe today.