EU Catholics see role for Islam in EU constitution

A leading Roman Catholic bishop said yesterday he would not object to a reference to other religions - including Islam - in the European Union's upcoming constitutional treaty.

Church demands to highlight Europe's Christian heritage in the EU's new constitution have split members, with support from countries with large Catholic populations but opposition from France with its commitment to secularism.

Bishop Josef Homeyer of Hildesheim, president of the Catholic Church's EU liaison group COMECE, said he was seeking a reference to Europe's religious history in the EU constitution rather than a declaration of religious belief.

"Religious heritage does not exclude a reference to other religious history. I would have nothing against a reference to... Muslim heritage. It's just a recognition of a historical truth," Homeyer said.

Homeyer spoke to journalists after a meeting of the Catholic church's Commission of Bishops' Conferences of the European Community.

In recent months, Pope John Paul II has waged a campaign to put God, and specifically Christianity, into the constitution.

Spain, Poland, Portugal, Ireland, Malta, Slovakia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic all support a reference to Europe's Christian heritage in the preamble to the EU's constitutional treaty, which is scheduled to be decided in December.

The Czech Republic was the only state to support a reference to other cultural influences as well.