Two papal Europes: Benedict XVI, Francis and competing Christian imaginaries of Europe

This article examines how Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI and Jorge Bergoglio/Francis constructed Europe as a moral and political project, and how their contrasting narratives shape the political uses of Christianity in contemporary Europe. It employs a qualitative Critical Discourse Analysis of a bounded corpus of Europe-facing speeches and writings, examining lexical choices, metaphors, modality, argumentative topoi, intertextuality and editorial recontextualisation. In Ratzinger’s case, the analysis distinguishes between pre-pontifical interventions, used genealogically to reconstruct his intellectual repertoire, and texts delivered with the institutional authority of Benedict XVI’s pontificate. The findings identify two partially overlapping but distinct Christian imaginaries. Ratzinger and Benedict XVI construct Europe primarily through a grammar of roots, civilisational continuity and moral defence, presenting Christianity as foundational to European identity and political order. Francis, by contrast, articulates Europe through encounter, solidarity and responsibility, evaluating its moral credibility through its treatment of migrants, vulnerable groups and the peripheries. The article argues that papal discourse does not offer a unified Catholic definition of Europe. Instead, it provides competing authoritative repertoires that political and religious actors can selectively appropriate in struggles over Europe’s borders, identity and obligations.