What is the future of the European project? Pope Francis has strong views on where the source of the problem lies, and he did not pull his punches when he addressed the European Parliament last month. Now the former Prime Minister of Italy is due to give his thoughts on the difficulties facing the EU. Professor Mario Monti will deliver a lecture entitled “Reflections on European Disintegration” at St John’s College Auditorium, Oxford, on 21 January 2015, and then take part in a discussion chaired by the university’s chancellor, Lord Patten, a former European commissioner. Monti, who has close links with the Sant’Egidio community (he appointed the founder, Andrea Riccardi, as a minister in his Government), took over from Silvio Berlusconi during the debt crisi