Category Archives: Press

Press

COMECE Bishops seek ways to strengthen intercultural and inter-religious dialogue at the EU level

Strengthening intercultural and inter-religious dialogue will be the main focus of the forthcoming COMECE Bishops’ plenary meeting in response to the unfortunate and unsettling fallout between the EU and the Muslim world following the publication of cartoons caricaturing the prophet Mohammed. The plenary will take place from 22-24 March 2006 in Brussels. The Bishops will reflect upon and analyse the political and societal consequences following … Continue reading »

Press

COMECE launches its Global Governance Assessment 2005

Today during a dialogue seminar entitled “Global Governance: where we stand” co-organised with the European Policy Centre (EPC), COMECE launched its “Global Governance Assessment 2005 – One More Step On A Long Way To Go” before a panel of experts at the Residence Palace, Brussels. Co-hosting the event with the EPC as part of their EU and Global Governance programme, the dialogue seminar drew together … Continue reading »

Plenary Assembly, Press

Press Release

COMECE outlines its willingness to engage in Plan D

In order for the EU to seriously communicate locally with European citizens, then it should not overlook the Churches’ capacity to act as an interlocutor. This was the principle message from the Bishops of COMECE at their Autumn Plenary Meeting held from 16-18 November 2005 in Brussels. Mindful that this plenary takes place at a time when the European Union is experiencing profound uncertainties as … Continue reading »

Ethics, Research & Health, Plenary Assembly, Policy Areas, Press

Press Release

EU-Research Funding and Ethics Brussels, 2005 Autumn Plenary

In the context of the Lisbon Strategy the member states have agreed to significantly increase expenditure for research and development by the year 2010. The EU’s institutions are currently in the process of adopting the 7th Research Framework Programme and its complementary specific research programmes. • Support for research We Bishops of COMECE strongly support the plan to give more support to research and development. … Continue reading »

Press

News

Vatican II’s message for contemporary Europe in crisis

The fortieth anniversary of Vatican II and the lessons that the Church in Europe can take from it in order to address the current crisis in the European Union will provide the main themes for debate during the autumn Plenary Meeting of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) from 16-18 November 2005 in Brussels. The bishops will consider the legacy … Continue reading »

Migration & Asylum, Policy Areas, Press

News

The EU must respect the human rights it espouses in its migration and asylum policy

In light of the flagrant human rights abuses at Ceuta and Melilla, six Churches and Christian organisations have written to the Justice and Home Affairs Council, which meets on 12 October, to demand that the European Union lives up to the rhetoric it espouses on human rights and concretises them within its migration and asylum policy. In this letter these six organisations working in the … Continue reading »

EU External Affairs, Policy Areas, Press

News

Bishops from Europe and the USA meet to foster partnership

At the first meeting of its kind, bishops from the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) and from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) came together to reflect upon some of the world’s major problems within the context of the transatlantic relationship. The meeting took place from 21-23 September 2005 in Brussels. “We are here to foster better understanding … Continue reading »

EU External Affairs, Policy Areas, Press

News

COMECE President calls for the immediate release of Archbishop Jovan in Macedonia

Bishop Josef Homeyer, President of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), today sent a letter to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President-in-Office of the European Council, to the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, and to the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Olli Rehn, alerting them to the imprisonment of Archbishop Jovan Vraniskovski of Ochrid … Continue reading »

Ecology & Sustainability, Policy Areas, Press

News

Statement upon the death of Brother Roger Schutz-Marsauche, founder of the Taizé Community

Following the violent death of Brother Roger Schutz-Marsauche on 16 August 2005, the Secretary General of COMECE, Mgr Noël Treanor offers the following statement: “In founding the Taizé Community in 1940, Brother Roger embarked upon a vocation to reconcile God’s people on the European continent; a vocation which was callously brought to an end yesterday evening. I am saddened and shocked at his untimely death. … Continue reading »

Justice & Fundamental Rights, Policy Areas, Press

Press Release

Representatives of the Churches and religions met with Commission President Barroso

Yesterday the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso met with a group of leaders and representatives of the Christian Churches, Judaism and Islam in Brussels, after which they issued a joint statement. In light of the recent terror attacks in London, all of the participants highlighted the barbarity of these attacks and denounced the use of religion as a justification for such actions. … Continue reading »