Pope Leo XIV Discusses Hopes of Peace and Migration with Bishops of the European Union - COMECE - at the Vatican

The Presidency of the Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) met Pope Leo XIV in audience today. Great attention was paid during the meeting to the conflict in Ukraine, for which, the bishops said, "it is necessary to arrive quickly at a just peace". Other topics covered included migration, accompanying young people and transmission of the faith, artificial intelligence

Concern for peace, particularly with regard to the crisis in Ukraine, and the question of rearmament, "on which the Pope expressed fear that greater attention to spending on armaments would be to the detriment of support for the most needy and the most fragile". Peace was, inevitably, one of the main themes touched upon in the audience that Leo XIV granted this morning to the presidency of the Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Union (COMECE).

This morning's audience "has great significance for us, because it took place a few days after the election of Leo and just over a month after the death of Pope Francis," Crociata said. The Augustinian Pontiff "wanted above all to listen to us freely, without providing precise indications at this stage, and in this we noted great attention on his part for Europe-an institution, born as a peace project, and for its functioning." Today, it "faces a delicate moment of confrontation with the new US administration, which took office at the beginning of the year, and also with a change of paradigm in public opinion, which sees the spread in many countries of worrying phenomena such as populism, often in contrast with the very cardinal principles of the European Union," admitted the president of Comece.
In particular, "we were struck, however," said Archbishop Antoine Hérouard, one of the vice-presidents of Comece, "by the emphasis that Leo XIV made on the economic and social consequences of the Ukrainian conflict on people's lives. More funds to strengthen defense and security systems cannot correspond to less aid for those who suffer or live in difficulty." A concrete fact that has manifested itself, for example, with the increase in energy prices. "We did not go into details," added the French prelate, "but we all stopped to consider the need to quickly reach a peace that is just. The balance between peace and justice is fundamental." And taking the floor, another vice-president, Lithuanian bishop Rimantas Norvila, highlighted how "even though we do not yet see concrete solutions, today all European countries must feel involved in the objective of stopping the war as soon as possible."

Migration was also among the topics of discussion during the hearing. Another vice-president, Portuguese bishop Nuno Brás da Silva Martins, spoke about it at the press conference. On the one hand, "there is a need for Europe to welcome migrants also to counteract the demographic decline", but on the other hand, "a certain inability to integrate those arriving at our borders" is evident. This is a "problem that concerns respect for the person in all his dignity", and which involves "also the issue of the Christian roots of Europe".

"A lot", moreover, the Pope insisted on the accompaniment of young people and on the transmission of faith in the family. Both Crociata and Hérouard highlighted this. While Czeslaw Kozon, bishop of Copenhagen, and representative as vice-president of COMECE also of the Scandinavian Episcopal Conferences, placed the accent, specifically, on the cancellation from the baptismal registers: a phenomenon that in many countries, "such as Belgium and the Netherlands", is increasing. "In addition to the issue of children who accuse their parents of having imposed a choice of faith on them, there is also that of the interference of States in the life of the Church and in the organization of the structures of the Church, which risks calling religious freedom into question. And then there is the right and duty of parents to educate their children". Soon "we could even arrive at a decision by the European Court of Human Rights on this point, because people who want to cancel themselves from the registers, often for ideological reasons, also do so by invoking the European legislation on the processing of personal data". Therefore, in practice, explained Father Manuel Barrios Prieto, secretary general of Comece, if instead of "just annotating the desire to no longer belong to the Catholic Church ('unbaptism') in the margin of the name, we were to move towards a real cancellation of the baptismal register, this would lead to an attack on the freedom of the Church and a lack of respect for its autonomy".
AI at the center of the Pope's attention

Finally, the Pope showed great attention to artificial intelligence, concluded Crociata, "a topic that involves disinformation; respect for the dignity, privacy, identity and freedom of the person; and that has consequences on the work level".

Source: Vatican News IT