Brussels, 13/12/2001 (Agence Europe) - The church representatives also expressed their expectations to the Heads of State and Government, who will meet in Laeken.
Thus, COMECE (Commission of Episcopates of the European Union) chaired by Mgr Homeyer, bishop of Hildesheim, published a statement entitled Promoting the confidence of citizens in the future of Europe in which it reiterates its support for the European integration process which, it says, has as first aim to serve the common good of all in order to guarantee justice and harmony, according to the words pronounced by Pope Jean-Paul II in October 1983 before European parliamentarians. The bishops also assert that the future Convention will be guided by principals of the centrality of the human person, solidarity, subsidiarity and transparency, and that, to succeed, the Convention must engage citizens of the European Union at the local level (which means that the role of civil society in the work of the Convention must be clearly defined). The Churches and religious communities want to bring a specific contribution to this process, underlines the statement, while noting that the future enlargement of the EU accentuates the need to promote dialogue and reconciliation between the peoples of Europe. Moreover, the COMECE invited the Conferences of Episcopates from the candidate countries to consider the future of Europe, and this statement reflects their talks and exchanges, specify the bishops.
Furthermore, Keith Jenkins, Director of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), wrote to Guy Verhofstadt and identified major challenges which the Convention and IGC will have to tackle, namely: - judge the institutional reforms in relation to the contribution towards justice, peace, durability and reconciliation; - also take into consideration the needs and traditions of the future Member States; - preserve diversity, with a large dose of solidarity to help the future citizens of the Member States overcome their concerns; - extend to the future Member States the principals of solidarity and community which constitute the basis of the European social model; - ensure that Europe exercises its global responsibility while maintaining it coherence with its values.