Request for religious reference in planned Euro constitutional treaty

European Church representatives have asked the Greek European Union presidency to include a religious reference in the future European constitutional treaty.

A delegation from the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches and the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) met the Greek Minister for European Affairs, Tassos Giannitsis, in Brussels on Tuesday.

The meeting discussed the priorities of the Greek presidency and address certain specific concerns.

COMECE is a commission of the Catholic Bishops' Conferences of EU member states. The Bishops' Conferences of Malta, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland are associate members.

The Conference of European Churches is a fellowship of 127 Orthodox, Anglican, Protestant and Old Catholic Churches from all countries of Europe. It was founded in 1959 and has offices in Geneva, Brussels and Strasbourg.

During the meeting the representatives underlined their general support for European integration and the ongoing enlargement process.

They stressed their continuing contribution to the dialogue on the future of Europe, which should not be conceived without a reference to the role played by Christianity in the history of the continent.

The Church representatives also stressed the need for a structured dialogue between the EU institutions and the Churches.

They expressed interest in contributing to the preparation of the EU summit with countries of South Eastern Europe which will be held in Thessaloniki on June 21.

Other issues discussed at the meeting included bioethics, social policy, migration and education.

Finally, the delegation of the Churches declared their concern over the threat of a war in the Gulf region and expressed their hope for a peaceful solution to the conflict within the framework of the United Nations.