The European common good” “

The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have issued a statement urging Catholics to participate in the forthcoming European elections on 10-13 June because their vote will help to build a Europe of solidarity and make the continent a true common home. In the statement, “The European Common Good”, issued at the end of the spring assembly of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, the bishops recall that the EU ought to develop from the economic market into a union of the spirit that promotes the moral good of all Europeans. A EUROPE OF SOLIDARITY… “Despite its flaws – declare the bishops – the EU has been a powerful source for the promotion of peace and prosperity and enlargement strengthens its potential for developing further the common good. For enlargement to work, the EU’s existing richer members need to show the generosity and vision necessary to create real solidarity with the new poorer countries entering the Union. This has been done in the past, for example when central EU funding helped Ireland and Portugal to develop their economies and the new members deserve similar support”. According to the bishops, the accession of the ten new members “brings to an end the division of Europe that emerged as a result of the Second World War… It was only with the collapse of the communist regimes of Central and Eastern Europe that the cultural, political and economic ties that had traditionally bound Europe began to be renewed. For Pope John Paul II, enlargement will begin to allow the ‘two lungs’ of Europe to be brought together again”. So enlargement “offers an opportunity to celebrate the cultural richness and diversity of Europe and to reflect on how it can help the common good of all Europeans”. BASED ON RESPECT FOR HUMAN DIGNITY. “If the EU is to flourish – say the bishops, citing the Pope’s words in “Ecclesia in Europa” – it is essential to continue building a community of values based on respect for the dignity of the human person and the family”, and safeguard “everything that concerns human life from the moment of conception to natural death and the family based on marriage”. Unfortunately “Europe also has a darker history of warfare, racism and totalitarianism, and so there is a special imperative on Europeans to create a culture of reconciliation and peace. This remains an urgent task, as the continuing turmoil in Kosovo demonstrates”. In the paragraph on “The Challenges of Englargement”, the bishops admit that in the United Kingdom “the future of the EU and the wisdom of wider and deeper integration have been divisive issues within British public life… It is not the role of the Bishops’ Conference to prescribe a particular position to the Catholic community on controversial issues such as monetary union. However, following from their duty as moral teachers, the Bishops are very conscious that there are policy issues that will need careful scrutiny”. These issues include aid to the countries of the Third World, “the fulfilment of internationally agreed targets such as the Millennium development goals which seek to halve global poverty by 2015”, “the willingness to welcome migrants and asylum seekers”, and the recognition of Judaism and Islam as important sources in shaping European culture. These objectives will only be achieved if the EU succeeds in reducing the perceived distance of citizens from its institutions and decision-making procedures. ELECTIONS AND HOLY LAND. Other issues discussed by the bishops during their spring assembly were the local elections on 10 June, the conflict in the Holy Land and the reform of the educational sector. The bishops remind British citizens that, “in casting their vote, they ought to recollect that we live in a world where religious and ethnic tensions threaten the peace of local communities and entire regions” and that “candidates and parties that fuel these divisions” ought not to be supported. As for the Holy Land, the Bishops emphasise that “a return to the negotiations and to the primacy of international law is of vital importance and that the tragic impasse of the present time must be overcome with justice and without the use of force”. The bishops call the recent meeting between US President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Sharon “negative” because “it supported the existence of settlements on the West Bank contrary to international law”. A two-state solution agreed between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority that permits the existence of a Palestinian state with internationally recognised borders is the only way forwards. “That’s why the Road Map needs to be resumed”.