The Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union, formerly the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community, (; COMECE) is the association of

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

episcopal conference An episcopal conference, often also called a bishops’ conference or conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The fir ...

s in

member states of the European Union The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are party to the EU's founding treaties, and thereby subject to the privileges and obligations of membership. They have agreed by the treaties to share their o ...

(EU) which officially represents those episcopal conferences at EU institutions. COMECE holds two meetings of the Plenary Assembly each year, which set out the main lines of its work. The Apostolic Nuncio to the European Communities participates in these meetings. A seminal issue of the European integration process provides the core theme of each meeting. COMECE bishops are delegated by Catholic episcopal conferences in EU member states and has a permanent

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the ninth winn ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium. It was established in 1980 and replaced the European Catholic Pastoral Information Service (SIPECA, 1976–1980). Discussions during the 1970s about creating an episcopal conferences' liaison organization to the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

led to the decision, on the eve of the

1979 European Parliament election The 1979 European Parliament election was a series of parliamentary elections held across all 9 (at the time) European Community member states. They were the first European elections to be held, allowing citizens to elect 410 MEPs to the Eur ...

, to establish .

Objectives

The objectives of COMECE are to: *monitor EU "political processes" and "legal developments" *communicate "opinions and views" about "

European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

in the light of"

Catholic social teaching Catholic social teaching (CST) is an area of Catholic doctrine which is concerned with human dignity and the common good in society. It addresses oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organization, social justice, and w ...

*communicate "concerns and opinions" of bishops about "the construction of a peaceful and prosperous Europe for all" to EU institutions *offer "the co-operation and the service of the Church" to EU institutions *respond to "questions and problems" of EU institutions *maintain "transparent and regular dialogue with the EU Institutions" *"inform and raise awareness among" episcopal conferences in EU member states and Catholics about topics of "common interest dealt with by the different institutions of the EU" *assist episcopal conferences in EU member states with understanding "the challenges posed by" European integration *"foster collegiality" between episcopal conferences in EU member states "in developing specific actions" with respect to European "social and ethical problems" COMECE issues news bulletins and reports in the following "policy areas": Ecology, Energy & Agriculture; Ethics, Research & Health; EU External Affairs; Education & Culture; Justice, Fundamental Rights & Article 17 TFEU; Migration & Asylum; International Religious Freedom; Social & Economic Affairs; and Youth Policies.

Organisation

COMECE's is managed by a standing committee of five, the president, currently Bishop

Mariano Crociata Mariano Crociata (born 16 March 1953) has been bishop of the Diocese of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno since 19 November 2013. He was previously the Secretary-General of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), the first to come from a southe ...

of Latina, Italy, first vice president Archbishop Antoine Hérouard of Dijon, France, and three vice presidents: Bishops Nuno Brás da Silva Martins of Funchal, Portugal, Rimantas Norvila of Vilkaviškis, Lithuania, and Czeslaw Kozon of Copenhagen, Denmark. The official who runs the office on a day-to-day basis is the General Secretary, currently Fr. Manuel Barrios Prieto. The General Secretary is appointed for a three-year term renewable term. Its standing committees include: Commission on Social Affairs; Legal Affairs Commission; Commission on EU External Relations; Working Group on Migration and Asylum; Working Group on Ethics; Working Group on Education and Culture. COMECE is funded by the episcopal conferences in EU member states. Its secretariat is currently made of 10 people.

Leadership

;Presidents *

Franz Hengsbach Franz Hengsbach (10 September 1910 – 24 June 1991) was a German Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Essen from 1957 to 1991, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1988. Biography Franz Hengsbach was born in ...

, Bishop of Essen (1980 – 1984) *

Jean Hengen Jean Hengen (23 November 1912 – 29 January 2005) was a Luxembourgish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Luxembourg from 13 February 1971 until 21 December 1990, whereupon Luxembourg was created as an Archbishopric, a ...

, Archbishop of Luxembourg (1984 – 1990) *

Charles Amarin Brand Charles-Amarin Brand (27 June 1920 – 31 March 2013) was a French prelate of the Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, lar ...

, Archbishop of Strasbourg (1990 – 1993) * Josef Homeyer, Bishop of Hildesheim (1993 – 2006) * Adrianus Herman van Luyn, Bishop of Rotterdam (2006 – 2012) * Reinhard Marx, Cardinal Archbishop of Munich and Freising (2012 – 2018) *

Jean-Claude Hollerich Jean-Claude Hollerich (born 9 August 1958) is a Luxembourgish Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Luxembourg since 2011. He was the president of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) from March 20 ...

, Cardinal Archbishop of Luxembourg (2018 – 2023) *

, Bishop of Latina (2023 – present) ;General Secretaries *Msgr. Paul Huot-Pleuroux, France (1980 – 1989) *Fr. Paul Schaeffer, France (1989 – 1993) *Msgr. Noël Treanor, Ireland (1993 – 2008) *Msgr. Piotr Mazurkiewicz, Poland (2008 – 2012) *Msgr. Patrick Daly, Ireland (2012 – 2016) *Fr. Olivier Poquillon O.P., France (2016 – 2019) *Fr. Manuel Barrios Prieto, Spain (2019 – present)

References

External links

*
''Europeinfos'' site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Commission Of The Bishops' Conferences Of The European Community 1980 establishments in Europe

Catholic Church in Belgium Catholic Church in Europe European Union and the Catholic Church Christian organizations established in 1980

Objectives

Organisation

Leadership

See also

References

External links