A German Catholic princess has given an impassioned speech on behalf of dwindling European families at the National Conservatism Convention.
Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, a dear friend of the late Pope Benedict XVI, made her remarks this week at the meeting in Brussels, a conference she told LifeSiteNews was “very well organized.” She began her talk with a reference to famous television shows.
“The last TV series I can remember that promoted the beauty of a large family was “The Waltons” and “The Partridge Family” in the 70s when I grew up,” Princess Gloria remarked.
“I can’t remember any movie for the last 20 years at least where family was portrayed as something wonderful to strive for.”
“Today it looks like the only people who want to get married are homosexuals. Heterosexuals live together but have no children and don’t get married.”
The princess blamed the current economic situation, in which both men and women must work and therefore have no time to raise children. At the same time, she noted, the dropping European birthrate has led to a need to “import” a workforce from “the global south.”
Princess Gloria suggested that by encouraging foreign migration while discouraging the creation of families among the indigenous populations, European nations are committing suicide.
“The demographic development of Europe is no surprise,” she declared.
“We have known now for decades that, due to our low reproduction rates, a labor shortage awaits us, and yet still our leaders kept financing the killing of our own offspring. Why? what sense does this make? Is there some kind of racism behind it all? Why are we encouraging our own self-extinction?
The princess pointed to Hungary as a country that is successfully solving its demographic crisis through encouraging couples to have children.
“Hungary has shown that it is possible to turn around and raise reproduction rates significantly,” she said. “Young families receive significant help financially from the government and social recognition too. It is not impossible to rent an apartment in Hungary when you have more than two children. In Germany it is.”
Princess Gloria believes other countries do not follow Hungary’s lead because they are infected with nihilism and “ultimately the nihilists believe that self-destruction is man’s sole purpose on earth.” She added that socialists, too, have “never had man’s interests at heart.”
“Power and nihilistic, utilitarian abuse was and is their motivation.”
She contrasted the current situation today in Germany with the post-war miracle that transformed the war-devastated country into an economic powerhouse:
It was Ludwig Erhardt, a Christian Democrat when Christian Democrats still had Christian principles at heart, who invented the so called Soziale Marktwirtschaft [social market economy] after the Second World War. A liberal social economy that made possible Germany’s rise to industrial power. It encouraged both entrepreneurs and workers, because fewer regulations made it possible to pay for social security and to be profitable at the same time. Less government, responsible entrepreneurship and responsible fair pay for workers.
We are a million miles away from this system today. We have more rules and regulations than ever before. These rules and regulations make it impossible for independent entrepreneurs even to get started let alone continue. It almost looks like the government does not want any free entrepreneurship in Europe. It seems as if they want to disperse all of our savings to whoever asks for it first, ideally to people who bring chaos and disorder.
… Are we hostages of the culture of death on the sinking ship of no return?
The princess reflected on the miserable and seemingly hopeless state of the western world, mentioning the opioid crisis in the USA, war, civil war, “unknown diseases, unrest and hatred”—including Islamic attacks in Europe, which she believes are being managed behind the scenes.
Princess Gloria believes that the only way out of the mess is “to call on God and ask for His help.”
“If the power of evil is growing it is because we have lost faith in God the Creator,” she said.
“Only by praying to God can we defeat the devil. Evil’s ugly face has never been more visible. Let’s fight it with prayer, the only powerful tool we have and our secret weapon.”
Princess Gloria was one of many notable speakers at the National Conservatism Conference that took place between April 16 and 17 in Brussels this week. Others included Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, author Rod Dreher, former French presidential candidate Éric Zemmour, and Cardinal Gerhard Müller.
On April 16, a socialist Brussels district mayor called Emir Kir attempted to shut down the conference by sending police to blockade the building, unwittingly ensuring that the conservative event grabbed headlines around the world. A Belgian court overturned the mayor’s order.