In his opening speech to the COMECE Autumn Plenary Assembly, the President of COMECE, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, said that the Church wanted to make a contribution to help the European Union to overcome the multiple crises it faces: ‘In this existential crisis of the EU, COMECE is more important than ever’.
(Credit: COMECE)
Regarding the consequences of the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the EU, the President of COMECE emphasised that it was not only a British problem. Rather, it is the European Union as a whole that has to reaffirm its goals. Beyond the issue of EU membership, the Cardinal encouraged the United Kingdom as well as the EU, to ‘start moving towards each other again.’ From the perspective of the Church, with its universal vocation, one should always consider ‘what people have in common, beyond borders.’
As the voice of the Catholic Church in the European Union, COMECE will organise a Congress in Rome in autumn 2017 on “Rethinking Europe” to which bishops and lay people will be invited to discuss with policy makers the future of the political unification project. Cardinal Marx further explained: ‘We as members of COMECE have to embark on this difficult task, not to look for solutions in the past or on the way back, but rather, drawing upon the knowledge of the richness of the past, to find them in the future, looking forward with confidence.’