“A fundamental stage in the process of European integration”. That’s how the executive committee of COMECE, Commission of the episcopates of the European Community, meeting in Rome on 23 June, defined the new European Constitutional Treaty. A statement signed by the president of COMECE, Bishop Josef Homeyer of Hildesheim, and its two vice-presidents, Bishop Adrianus van Luyn of Rotterdam and Archbishop Hippolyte Simon of Clermont, says that “the new Constitution is clearer and hence easier for citizens to understand. It provides a more balanced system of voting procedures. A compromise was found that permits account to be taken of the equality of member states and the numerical difference between their populations”. COMECE also expressed “great satisfaction” in the fact that the Treaty, in article I-2, “mentions respect for human dignity as the prime value of the Union. The objectives of the EU are based on the search for the European and universal common good. So there are grounds for hoping that Europe may increasingly become a community of values”. Another positive feature of the new Constitution, says COMECE, is “the recognition of the identity and specific contribution of the Churches and religious communities enunciated in art. I-51”. As for the preamble, the statement says that “we welcome the mention made of the religious heritage of Europe, even though we deplore the fact that it proved impossible to reach a consensus on explicitly recognising that this heritage is pre-eminently Christian. This could be interpreted as a form of contempt for the convictions of a significant number of citizens and shows that the EU must still question itself about its legacy and its identity. We invite Christians the statements concludes to familiarise themselves with the Treaty and, with a view to its ratification, we call on leaders of politics, culture and the media to assume the responsibility to present the Treaty to citizens so that they may gain a better understanding of the values and objectives of European integration”.
