Bishop Rimantas Norvila, President of the COMECE Commission on the EU External Relations, and Bishop David J. Malloy, Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, have issued a joint statement in view of a meeting between U.S. and Russian officials, scheduled to take place on 22 June 2020 in Vienna. In the context of the anticipated U.S.-Russia talks … Continue reading »

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the European and the African Union are currently preparing for the 6th Summit of their political leaders. In this view, COMECE and the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) have elaborated a joint contribution on the future EU-Africa partnership. At a time when the world has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating consequences, the Presidents … Continue reading »

In view of the June 2020 Eastern Partnership Summit, the EU presented a new set of long-term policy objectives for the relations with its six Eastern neighbours. COMECE commends the prioritisation of people-centred resilience in the new proposal. With the current Eastern Partnership (EaP) framework expiring at the end of 2020, the European Commission and the European External Action Service have recently proposed to focus … Continue reading »

In the context of the current debate on the future of the EU enlargement process, COMECE received H.E. Mgr. George Frendo OP and H.E. Mgr. Gjergj Meta, respectively President and General Secretary of the Albanian Bishops’ Conference on 3-4 February 2020. They met with high-level representatives of the EU and of the Church to exchange on challenges and opportunities for Albania’s EU integration. The visit … Continue reading »

In the context of the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the COMECE Standing Committee has elaborated a declaration on the topic. Although saddened by this event, the COMECE Standing Committee respect the will expressed by the British citizens during the 2016 Referendum and assure that, “even though the UK will no longer be part of the EU, it will still continue … Continue reading »

On Thursday 23 January 2020 COMECE hosted a dialogue meeting between Churches, faith-based actors, as well as international and European policy-makers, on how to enhance the cooperation among actors working in the field of integral and sustainable human development. Co-organised with Caritas Europa in the context of on-going negotiations on the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the meeting highlighted the important role of Churches and … Continue reading »