Anne Brasseur about Pope Francis: « Our contact was spontaneously warm »
Anne Brasseur met Pope Francis twice: once in November 2014 as President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, and once in September 2015 to a private audience in Rome. Among other things, she spoke to him about topics such as the refugee crisis and the commitment to tolerance and against HATE Speech.
What did you think when you learned about Pope Francis’ death?
It was really to be expected, but to die, one day after Easter, when he still had the courage to go into the crowd – that shows that it was really a big man. He was aware that he would no longer celebrate Easter. He wouldn’t have expected that things would go so quickly. And we were all surprised this morning.
You met him in 2014 as President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe …
Yes. I received him in Strasbourg. I had a short conversation with him and the contact was immediately spontaneous. And afterwards, a year later, he invited me to a private audience.
How did you experience him?
He knew my attitude. In my speech in the Council of Europe, I said that I was not believing. And he was really an open and tolerant person, otherwise he would not have invited me afterwards.
With his approach to intolerance, he also extended his role for the people who do not go to church.
And what did you talk to him about in private in September 2015?
That was in the wedding of the refugee crisis. Of course we talked about it. Pope Francis was on Lampedusa and commented on the globalization of indifference, as he said. And he really supported me in the “No Hate Speech” campaign of the Council of Europe, whose ambassador I was. He acted against intolerance, against indifference. And of course also against hate and hate speech. He also extended his role for the people who do not go to church. He had such a charisma that he could also reach other people. And I thought that was good.
The statements of the Pope on the role of women in the church in Luxembourg and especially in Belgium last year Anne Brasseur « less well, said the least ». Photo: Marc Wilwert / Luxemburger Word
In contrast, how do you assess his statements about the role of woman in the church, especially when visiting the Belgian University of Löwen?
I liked that less, said the least. That was already violent.
How do you think that Pope Francis received the American Vice President JD Vance one day before his death?
It is difficult to judge. JD Vance did this for his position of power and his ego. On the other hand, the Pope emphasized in his last public statements that there must finally be peace that there were enough stoves in the world. I hope that Vance has taken this to heart and hopefully will incorporate this into politics. Especially the message of tolerance. I hope that this message arrived with him. When I look at what is going on in America, Trump’s statements … but JD Vance is even more dangerous in my opinion.
You agree with many critics … JD vance as a dangerous power in the background. Should the Pope have set a sign and shouldn’t hit it?
I think you can see that either way. Both would have been a message in the respective direction.
In January 2018, the long-time DP MP resolved her political mandates after 42 years of active politics. In 1979 she was elected to parliament for the first time. Between 1999 and 2004 she was a minister of education, vocational training and sport in the CSV DP cabinet. Local -political, the qualified psychologist in the capital council was active as a lay judge from 1982 to 1999 and from 2005 to 2009. From 1995 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2018, Anne Brasseur was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and its president from 2014 to 2016.
