EU Heads of State and political representatives met with their counterparts from the six Eastern European countries in Brussels to review their partnership. They pledged to strengthen cooperation and to engage in a comprehensive and forward-looking dialogue. The participants of the 5th Eastern Partnership Summit reaffirmed “the importance of inclusive engagement of all parts of society” as key to address common challenges to human security, … Continue reading »

COMECE welcomes the commitment of the EU to elaborate a Strategy for Iraq and submits recommendations to policy-makers to support Iraqi people in rebuilding their country. As part of the worldwide network of the Catholic Church, COMECE is in regular contact with Iraqi Bishops. In close dialogue with them, COMECE elaborated a contribution to the planned “EU Strategy for engagement with Iraq” with an analysis … Continue reading »

In a high-level conference on Nuclear Weapons and Disarmament organised in the Vatican on 11-12 November 2017, Pope Francis condemned the use and possession of nuclear weapons. Pope Francis encouraged the 350 participants, including representatives from COMECE, to explore the connections between integral human development, peace and nuclear disarmament, in order to build a world without nuclear weapons. Participants to the International Symposium pointed to … Continue reading »

Ahead of the 5th summit of the African Union and the European Union – Abidjan, 28–29 November 2017 – the Commission of Bishops’ Conferences in the European Union (COMECE) and the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), have published today a joint Statement entitled “Africa and Europe shall work as one for the youth of our continents”. COMECE and SECAM – whose … Continue reading »

In cooperation with Pax Christi International and CIDSE, COMECE organised a panel discussion on the challenges posed by the extractive industries in Latin America. Grassroots actors and policy-makers exchanged on challenges and perspectives at different levels. The panel hosted by COMECE included Mikeas Sánchez Gomez, a representative of the indigenous Zoque community from Chiapas (Mexico), Martha Ines Romero, Pax Christi Coordinator for Latin American and … Continue reading »

COMECE welcomed a delegation from the Department of International Affairs of the Bishops’ Conferences of England and Wales. The group of bishops visited COMECE headquarter in Brussels in order to learn more about its activity with the EU institutions. The delegation also met with representatives from European Union institutions. Bishops visit European Union to deepen links with the Church in Europe. Bishops from England and … Continue reading »

COMECE and Caritas Europa hosted a dialogue meeting with faith-based actors and policy-makers in preparation of the 5th EU-Africa Summit that will take place in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in November 2017. Stakeholders from the United Nations, African Union, European External Action Service, European Parliament, European Commission, as well as the Estonian Council Presidency and faith-based actors from the field, discussed three key policy areas: Youth, … Continue reading »

COMECE hosted a roundtable debate on the concept of resilience and the respective roles of policy-makers and faith-based actors in this process. The meeting gathered 30 stakeholders from European External Action Service, European Commission, European Parliament as well as UN and faith-based actors from the field. In view of the current geopolitical challenges and of EU’s strategic priority to foster resilience of countries and their … Continue reading »