The courage to tell

“We need to have the courage to present the Church’s opinion”, says Father Piotr Mazurkiewicz, General Secretary of COMECE (Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community) in an interview with Guillaume Frison on behalf of SIR Europe in which the general secretary sums up what COMECE achieved in 2010 and its projects for the new year. Father Mazurkiewicz, could you remind us of what were COMECE’s main projects in 2010?“The year 2010 was punctuated by a series of documents of reflections and recommendations sent to the European Union, but also by the holding of some major conferences at the European Parliament. For example we organized a conference on the papal encyclical ‘Caritas in veritate’. Do you know any national parliaments that have held a conference of this type? It’s interesting to note that the EU’s political representatives are very interested in the recommendations expressed in this encyclical”.What were the topics of the documents of recommendations sent to the EU?“We published two important documents on European policy last year. The first dealt with the policy of non-discrimination. Some consider that the European Union has wide responsibility in this field, whereas our conclusion is, on the contrary, that the EU has only a limited responsibility. If the EU commits itself in favour of a discriminated group, it is essential however for it to proceed with great caution. If it does not, it would risk creating new forms of discrimination towards another population group, as happens in the case of questions linked to marriage, freedom of conscience or religious freedom”.Your basic document on religious freedom in the world did not pass unobserved…“Indeed, this document caused a raising of awareness: a real stance to be adopted by the political class with regard to the persecution of Christians in the world. Our Report met with success thanks to the significant work carried out on the question by a large number of players. Less than two years ago, the assertion that Christians were persecuted because of their religion was not credible. Following the publication of our report, three Iraqi bishops were sent to Brussels to speak about the situation in Iraq. Moreover, some national MPs and ministers officially requested the EU to protect Christians from persecutions. This year, EU ministers of foreign affairs will meet to debate just this question, which ought to be the object of a specific Resolution of the European Parliament”.Has COMECE made any contribution to the European Year 2010 against poverty and social exclusion?“The Church has genuine experience to offer in this field. Together with the CEC (Conference of European Churches), Caritas and Diaconia, we have set up a group of experts that made its recommendations during a conference held at the European Parliament. We insist that the problem of poverty be not treated solely from the purely economic point of view, but comprise the totality of the human being”.After its adoption in 2009, 2010 was the year of the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty. Has this Treaty had any consequences on your cooperation with the European institutions?“Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty stipulates that the EU should maintain ‘an open, transparent and regular dialogue with the Churches’. In actual fact, we already have a well consolidated practice of dialogue with the European institutions. Hitherto, however, this was voluntary: it was based on the good will of each side. Article 17 does not form part of canon law, but of European law! What ought to change as a result is the fact of taking the initiative: now, it will become more natural for a European political leader to meet the Church. We don’t expect other changes in the immediate future. For our part, we have offered our interpretation of article 17 in a document drafted in collaboration with the CEC in which we suggest, among other things, that dialogue with the Churches cannot substitute bilateral meetings”.In this regard, how do you cooperate with the other Churches?“We try, as far as possible, to work together in a cooperative spirit. In 2010 cooperation was particularly fruitful on questions of religious freedom and poverty, as also on the occasion of the seminar of dialogue with the European Commission. However, in the event of differences of opinion, we remain faithful to our teaching”.2010 was also a particular year for COMECE, was it not? “Yes indeed. For we celebrated the 30th anniversary of our foundation! The debate we organized on that occasion between Jacques Delors (President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995) and Archbishop Fisichella, current President of the Pontifical Council for the new Evangelization, on the future of Europe was a fine example of the kind of dialogue we want to promote with the political world”.Let’s turn to 2011. Could you give us a brief preview of COMECE’s programme of work for 2011?“It’s the agenda of the European Union that in large part determines our work. At this level, the major dossiers are likely to be the implementation of the European citizenship initiative, the launch of a directive on hours of work (we would like Sunday to be considered as a privileged day of rest) and the question of religious freedom in the world, especially in Europe”.And at the level of COMECE?“At the level of COMECE, we are preparing to work on three important dossiers for the years ahead: the social market economy (a concept of the Lisbon Treaty), the reform of the CAP (common agricultural policy) and the Danube Strategy, adopted by the European Commission in December 2010. On this latter point, we will insist on the role of religion in the process of reconciliation, in particular in the Balkans”.How do you gauge the success of your work?“We need to be humble. We need to recognize that it’s not up to the Church to assume responsibility for the decisions of the European Union. Our role is to exercise discernment on the ethical questions raised by political initiatives, and then to explain them. There’s no guarantee that we shall be listened to or be understood. On the other hand, if the decisions end up by changing public opinion, that’s not necessarily due to us. Success is a gift of God”.So what’s the ‘value added’ of COMECE in the European decision-making process?“Political action functions mainly in a short or medium term perspective: from one election to another. We have the advantage of proposing long-term reflections. COMECE is not a ‘crypto-Catholic’ organization that has a hidden agenda of trying to transform the European Union into a confessional organization. The basis of our presence in Brussels is the social teaching of the Church, which integrates all the activities of society, including the particular element that consists in the ethical aspect. It’s the pastoral mission that guides us. It’s a question of bringing the world closer to the truth about man, as it is revealed to us by the Gospels. We need to have the courage to present the Church’s opinion. It seems to me that this role is working well”.