Pope and Cox honoured with European award

POPE JOHN PAUL II and Pat Cox, the president of the European Parliament, are being given one of the most prestigious awards in Europe, the Charlemagne prize.

Normally the annual award is given to one person in recognition of their work for European peace and unity, but this year it is being given twice.

Usually it is presented in Aachen in Germany but the organisers travelled to Rome to present it to Pope John Paul II yesterday evening to pay tribute to work promoting European understanding in the service of humanity and world peace.

Mr Cox was invited to the special ceremony in the Vatican as a guest of honour and will receive his prize in Aachen on May 20 in recognition of his contribution to European integration.

Speaking in Rome, Mr Cox paid tribute to the Pope.

“It is most appropriate that, in this unique year of European enlargement, a special Charlemagne Prize is being awarded to His Holiness John Paul II.

“The 25 years of the pontificate of Karol Wojtyla have been years of remarkable renewal and redefinition for Europe. On May 1, Europe will grow together again when, with enlargement, the union will embrace eight new countries from Central and Eastern Europe along with Malta and Cyprus.

“Pope John Paul II has been a chief architect of this new Europe that is emerging: a Europe at peace with itself and with others, founded on shared values and united at last.”

The Charlemagne was established by the city of Aachen in western Germany in 1949 at a time when the city was in ruins having been all but destroyed in the closing months of the Second World War.

Named after the Aachen-born 8th century Emperor Charlemagne, the founder of modern Europe, the prize marks Germany’s commitment to a peaceful post-war continent.

Previous winners include Jean Monnet one of the founders of the EU, Konrad Adenauer, Winston Churchill, George Marshall, who drew up a rescue scheme for post-war Europe, Henry Kissinger, Helmut Kohl and Vaclav Havel.