“May St Benedict intercede for our politicians and lawmakers, so that – in the democratic process – they may take inspiration from the communities and families of Europe, by working for real unity and social cohesion, without instigating divisions or wanting to impose their views”. On the day of the religious commemoration of the co-patron saint of Europe, less than a year to the next European election, Vincenzo Bassi, president of FAFCE (Federation of Associations of Catholic Families in Europe), wishes to speak of the monk’s character. “At a historical time that is crucial for the European continent, which is experiencing war at its heart”, Bassi goes on in a statement to SIR, “as Pope Francis mentioned last year, FAFCE ‘has its own responsibility for bearing witness to unity and working for a peace that is the great peace’, when ‘sadly many are the threats, and we need to focus on what unites, not on what divides’”.