On the occasion of the third European Federation Forum One of Us 23 February 2019 last in Paris, the European Award for Life, in its third edition, was given to Carlo Casini, honorary president of One of us and of the Italian MpV. Casini decided to donate the Award to ‘Mothers of Europe’.
“The award” explains Carlo Casini, in the message send to the Forum and read by Elisabetta Pittino, member of the international commission of MpVI, is an award that expresses “to the normality of motherhood” because “the vast majority of women recognize the embryo as One of Us. Also it recognizes pregnancy as an intimate and uninterrupted embrace that lasts for months as the seal imprinted in man that will remain for the whole life of the child and the mother. “This award is sending a strong message in these times of declining birth rates and on the eve of Women’s Day.”
Child in the womb
The award, a sculpture by the Spanish artist Maria Jesus Gomara, which represents a child in the womb, honouring all the Mothers of Europe, was donated by Casini and given to Mariella Paccagnella, a university student and young mother. She was able to choose life thanks to the help of an Italian pro-life organisation: “I conceived my son in a difficult situation. Now I cannot live without Joel who is the love of my life. And I can testify that every child is one of us from conception and is not a lump of cells. No woman should be forced to abandon or abort her child for any reason.”
To give this Award to the mothers of Europe through Carlo Casini is a strong message for the 150 intellectuals and members of pro-life associations, present to awaken the intelligences in Europe. In line with the title of the day ‘The Future of European Culture and the awakening of the intelligences’, the award is one of the first concrete facts of this newly conceived cultural platform.
