The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) is pleased to announce on Wednesday, 3 June 2026, the release of the digital edition of its Annual Report 2025. The publication features an introduction by the President of COMECE together with two special interviews: one with the current Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union and another with a political adviser who dedicated thirty years of service to COMECE. Download the 2025 Annual Report
Cover of the 2025 Annual Report of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union. (Photo: COMECE)
The publication provides a comprehensive overview of COMECE’s principal advocacy activities and engagement with the institutions of the European Union throughout 2025. It highlights the contribution of the Catholic Church to European policymaking and public debate across a wide range of policy areas, including:
- Justice, Fundamental Rights and Article 17 TFEU
- Freedom of Religion, inside and outside the EU
- EU External Affairs
- Migration and asylum
- Ethics, Research and Health
- Social-Economic Affairs
- Ecology, Energy and Agriculture
- Culture and Education
- Youth Policies
The Annual Report also features a foreword by COMECE President Mgr Mariano Crociata, who reflects on the main achievements of COMECE’s work during the past year while also examining the challenges that remain for both the Church and the European Union in an international context marked by rapid and profound change.
In addition, the publication includes two exclusive interviews conducted by COMECE Press Officer Alessandro Di Maio. The first interview is with the Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union, Mgr Bernardito Auza, while the second features Stefan Lunte, who served for three decades as a political adviser at COMECE.
Both interviews offer valuable insights, personal recollections, analyses and anecdotes concerning the work of the Catholic Church in Europe and its longstanding commitment to accompanying the European integration process, understood as a project of peace. Through their respective experiences, the interviewees provide unique perspectives on the development of relations between the Church and the European institutions, as well as on the challenges and opportunities facing Europe today.
COMECE President Mgr Mariano Crociata presents Pope Leo XIV with a copy of the 2025 COMECE Annual Report during an audience in May 2026. (Photo: Vatican Media)
The Annual Report 2025 was presented to the COMECE Bishops Delegates during the COMECE Spring Assembly held in Cyprus at the end of April 2025.
A copy of the publication was also presented to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV during the audience granted to the COMECE Presidency at the end of May 2025, providing an opportunity to share with the Holy Father an overview of the Commission’s activities and engagement with the European Union throughout the past year.
The cover of the Annual Report 2025 is dedicated to the people of Ukraine, who continue to endure the suffering caused by Russia’s ongoing armed aggression against their country. The photograph featured on the cover was taken in a cemetery in Lviv during a COMECE solidarity visit to Ukraine led by its President, Mgr Mariano Crociata. The image serves as a reminder of the human cost of war and of COMECE’s continued commitment to supporting a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.
The digital version of the COMECE Annual Report 2025 is available for consultation and download.