“At this fourth summit of heads of state and government of the Council of Europe, the Holy See will also be present with a delegation led by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin”. Mgr. Marco Ganci, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the international organisation based in Strasbourg, explained to SIR.  The Icelandic Presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers is hosting a Summit of Heads of State and Government from the organisation’s 46 member states in Reykjavik today and tomorrow. This is the 4^th Summit of the Council of Europe since its creation in 1949. Mgr. Ganci added: “this demonstrates the attention and importance that the Holy See gives to the activities of the Council of Europe and to which it looks with attention, especially for the issues that will be discussed at this summit, mainly related to the situation and support for Ukraine, and the problem of children who have been deported to Russia”. “Equal attention is paid to the theme of peace, which is the foundation on which the Council of Europe is built. The Holy See always tries, within its possibilities, to be an active part of the search for a possible peace solution, because we must always think of all the people who suffer and die”. According to Ganci, “another important priority facing this summit is the environment protection, to try to safeguard our ‘common home’: this is, as is well known, the wish that the Holy See has been pursuing for several years, also thanks to the teachings of the encyclical Laudato si’”.
“The summit – reports a note issued by the Council of Europe – represents a historic opportunity for European leaders to reaffirm their common commitment to the core values of the Council of Europe and to refocus its mission in the light of new threats to human rights and democracy, as well as to further support Ukraine through concrete measures to help achieve justice for the victims of Russian aggression”. The summit “should also boost initiatives to address emerging challenges to democracy and human rights, including the environment and artificial intelligence”.