Mgr. Adrianus van Luyn, bishop of Rotterdam, is the new president of Comece (the EU Episcopates’ Commission). A Salesian who has been at the helm of the diocese of the Dutch city since 1993, van Luyn will preside the church body for the next three years’ term, assisted by two deputy presidents: mgr. Diarmuid Martin, archbishop of Dublin (Ireland), and mgr. Piotr Jarecki, auxiliary bishop of Warsaw. The plenary meeting of Comece ended today, after three days’ work “specifically focussed explained the new president on intercultural and inter-religious dialogue. The bishops have drawn up a statement as a contribution to the debate on the future of the EU, which will be published on May 9th”, to coincide with the Day of Europe. In addition, they decided to organise a special event in Rome in March 2007, “to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the EEC founding Treaties”. So, several events have been planned in order to prepare and participate in 2008, the year the EU intends to centre on intercultural dialogue.
