A dialogue on dialogue

With a keynote address on major European issues the Most Rev. Adrianus van Luyn, Bishop of Rotterdam and President of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE), opened the organization’s autumn plenary session in Brussels on 18 November. The session ends today. We present below a passage from his speech relating to dialogue between Churches and EU institutions.The years of European self-discovery were also of great significance for the churches and have brought about significant changes for them also. In October 1995, COMECE and KEK organised a seminar in Brussels on the relationship between Church and State from a European perspective. The seminar revealed that systems for Church-State relationships were organised in very different ways in the different EU Member States. This led to the proposal for a corresponding passage to be incorporated into the Amsterdam Treaty. The result was Declaration No. 11 on the status of churches and religious communities: The European Union respects the status which the churches and religious communities have in the respective Member States and will not infringe this.During the discussions on a constitutional treaty, there was a growing conviction in the churches that the defensive protective clause of the Amsterdam Treaty should be supplemented with a clause on dialogue with positive wording. Through many interim stages, that wording was finally achieved and it is now to be found in the third paragraph of Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty: the open, transparent and regular dialogue conducted by the EU with the Churches and religious communities on the basis of their specific contributions. And so the Treaty codifies what began, during the years of negotiations, to be established as good practice. This “practical dialogue”, and also the trust between European institutions and churches, have both increased over the years. This is due in no small part to the work of COMECE.The “Building of the Instruments” is completed for the time being. From now on it’s a matter of knowing how to use them, and to what ends. In the next few days we shall be discussing the practical application of Article 17 in our daily business with the European Union institutions. After that, we shall then initiate a “Dialogue about the Dialogue” with these institutions.Apart from the question of knowing “how we want to conduct this dialogue”, we should also be asking ourselves the question: “What topics should we be discussing with the European Union?” Our mission as members of COMECE is not to be preoccupied with ourselves, nor to be safeguarding our privileges – to paraphrase Pope Benedict XVI – in the European policy area. Instead, it is to try to incorporate productively into the political process the Gospel of Jesus Christ which applies equally to all people. COMECE’s task is to observe and monitor the developments in the European Institutions. The basis of this rests on the Catholic Social Doctrine to its full extent and on its two pillars of human dignity and the common good. That is why an open Dialogue is needed, which means that listening is as important as speaking. Dialogue is cited in the Encyclical “Caritas in veritate” as an important principle for guiding the actions of the Church in the world. Openness is also needed for the current and pressing political issues, and our readiness to grapple with them competently and comprehensively. Where is our contribution expected? Where are our words and expertise needed? Where should we intervene for the common good, for peace, for greater justice?