EU Bishops: Vote for European project, Christian values

By Christopher Wells

European bishops are calling on Catholics and other European citizens to cast their votes responsibly as they choose members for the European Parliament later this year. 

"Today, Europe and the European Union are going through challenging and uncertain times,” the bishops write. To address the crucial issues facing the continent, “we need courageous, competent, and value driven policymakers who honestly pursue the common good. It is our responsibility to make the best possible choice in the coming elections.”

In a statement signed by the delegate Bishops of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), the Bishops highlight the need for Christians to “try to discern well for whom and for which party to vote in this important moment for the future of the European Union.”

While recognizing the different circumstances present in each country, the Bishops highlight the importance of voting “for persons and parties who clearly support the European project and who, we reasonably think, will promote our values and our idea of Europe, such as respect and promotion of the dignity of every human person, solidarity, equality, family, and the sanctity of life, democracy, freedom, subsidiarity, and care for our ‘common home’.”

Voting for the European project and Christian values

The Secretary-General of COMECE, Fr. Manuel Enrique Barrios Prieto, spoke to Vatican News about the statement and the Bishops' hope for EU elections in June.

“What the Bishops are asking of the Catholics, but also of all the European citizens, is that they prepare themselves to vote and they vote in the next elections.” He said the bishops are asking for “a responsible vote that promotes the European project and that promotes Christian values.”

In an interview with Vatican News, Bishop Czeslaw Kozon of Copenhagen, COMECE vice president, emphasized the importance of exercising the right to vote despite the difficulties in choosing parties and candidates that fully represent Christian values.

He warned that the European project is “in danger of being fragmented” due to the success of the “populistic voice.” That is “very concerning,” he said, “because if those forces succeed, then it will actually contradict the vision of the founding fathers of the European Union.”

Fr. Barrios Prieto went on to note that Bishops’ statement was issued ahead of the elections so that the individual Bishops’ Conferences of the EU would have time to provide guidance for voters in their respective countries, “because some issues” at the continental level “are also national issues.”

In regard to such issues, the COMECE statement explains that “the Bishops’ Conferences in each member state can also offer useful orientations.”

Encouraging the youth

The Bishops’ statement encourages "young people to exercise their vote in the coming European elections and so construct a Europe that assures their future and does justice to their genuine aspirations.”

At the same time, they encourage young people who feel called to do so to engage in politics, with an eye to contributing “to the common good in a spirit of service to the community.”

“The bishops encourage young people to commit themselves to the European project, commit themselves to promoting Christian values in Europe,” Fr. Barrios Prieto said, adding, “And this was the instrument that we have, and a very important instrument we have, are the coming European elections.”